EOMC sees increase in COVID testing, positive cases

The LeFlore County Hospital Authority Governing Board met Tuesday afternoon at Eastern Oklahoma Medical Center for its regular monthly meeting.

EOMC Infection Preventionist Kelsey McGee, R.N., told the Board that there has been a definite increase in the number of positive COVID cases in the last two months with an approximate 40 percent positive rate.

The board approved EOMC seeking sealed bids for repairs/replacements of multiple roof sections that were beginning to cause problems. Nineteen of the 23 roof sections were replaced after a hailstorm in 2018 but the sections needing replaced now didn’t meet criteria in 2018.

In his report, Chief Executive Officer, Bob Carter announced the opening of the Surgery Department in the very near future with Dr. Zbigniew Beyga, M.D. returning to EOMC. Beyga was one of the three Medical Executive Committee’s initial appointments that the board approved in Tuesday afternoon’s meeting. The other appointments were Bryan Spears as a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) for nurse anesthetist services, John Noadi, M.D. for tele-hospitalist services and James Hensel, D.O. for emergency medicine services.

Carter announced that LeFlore County native Delaina Davis, advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) has signed a letter of intent to begin working at EOMC on Oct. 17 as a hospitalist. EOMC administrative staff will also be working to recruit a second hospitalist and an internal medicine physician to practice in Poteau in the very near future.

Carter and EOMC Chief Nursing Officer Darla Ford, R.N. met with new LeFlore County Detention Center Director Dan Carter about safety protocols for handling inmates at EOMC and its clinics.

Carter told the board that the CPSI electronic medical record installation has been completed at all the clinic sites. Also, a system-wide productivity system has been implemented to assist managers in the daily management of their staffing ratios.

Carter mentioned that EOMC is in negotiations with Heartbeat Health to bring on tele-cardiology services at both the EOMC emergency department and in the inpatient setting.

Carter told the board that EOMC is making preparations to begin a senior citizen program. The program will encompass activities, health education and screenings. Hopefully, the program will enlighten patients about the services provided at EOMC and be a pathway to increase the EOMC Auxiliary members.

Carter told the board the outpatient registration/waiting area construction project is complete and has been approved by the State Health Department. He said the next project is to complete the Outpatient Physical Therapy, hopefully by January 2023.

Chief Operations Officer Logan Hayes announced that the annual Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) Survey on EOMC’s mammography department was recently completed with no negative findings or deficiencies.

In her Improving Organization Performance report, Dr. Beth Hites told the board there were 43 inpatient discharges, 32 observation discharges, 11 swing bed discharges and 1,046 emergency room discharges in June.

In his statistics report, Chief Financial Officer Brandon Bullard told the board there were 41 acute admissions, 17 swing bed admissions, 15 observation admissions, 2,533 clinic visits and 1,057 ER visits for June.

In the financial report, Bullard told the board there was $3.8 million in gross patient revenue, $1.488 million in net patient revenue and $1,69 million in net operating revenue for June. After expenses, the net income for the month of June was $213,098 and the net income for the fiscal year ending June 30 was $2,501,333.

Editor’s Note: Look for the latest COVID update regarding LeFlore County in Saturday’s edition once the newest information is released by the Oklahoma State Department of Health.