[Editor's Note: This part 1 of a potential multi-part series of articles. It addresses the business of the meeting. Reports will come in following articles.]
By Mary Alice Murphy
Toward the beginning of the Gila Regional Medical Center Governing Board meeting on May 26, 2022, Chair Alicia Edwards recognized several hospital staff members for their years of service.
However, her first action was to recognize the interim human resources director, Beverly Bush, who was in the audience.
The recognitions included Mary Gruszka, with 30 years of service, now in parenting education. "Every time we do this, I think about the incredible commitment and dedication that people make to work at Gila Regional for that long," Edwards said.
Other recognitions include Gabrielle Muniz for 10 years of service, now in medical surgery; Candace Laramore for 10 years of service, now in nursery; Jennifer Thornherr for five years of service in med surg; and Rosalinda Muniz for five years of service in the Cancer Center.
"Then we have Nicole Rodriguez for 20 years of service in the float pool," Edwards announced and presented to her in person.
Chief Nursing Officer Kelly Rodriguez said Nicole, who is a local resident, can "pretty much work in any department." Edwards asked if she graduated from Western New Mexico University Nursing School, and Nicole confirmed that she did.
Board Member Chris Ponce asked what float pool was. "Anywhere?"
CNO Rodriguez said: "Yes, Nicole started out as a phlebotomist and then went to nursing school. A float nurse usually starts out with a base knowledge in one area, such as med surg, and then branches out to other critical areas, such as the intensive care unit and emergency room. Most of our float pool staff do not have a home department but depending on the need of the day is where they go."
With no public input, Edwards made some comments before they continued the rest of the meeting. "About two years ago to the day, Gila Regional Medical Center would not have made their second payroll for the month of May, had it not been for the PPE (personal protection equipment) check we got from the federal government to support us as a rural hospital. We would have joined nearly 50 percent of the rural hospitals losing money at that time, in 2020. Between 2016 and 2020, Gila Regional lost more than $50 million. At that time, we had almost $10 million in accounts payable that we could not pay. Nearly 50 hospitals in the United States have closed or filed for bankruptcy since Covid. I want to acknowledge the incredible amount of work that has happened at Gila Regional in the past two years. I want to acknowledge our amazing partnership with HealthTech S3. We have had a pretty incredible financial turnaround. We went from single days of cash to today when we have 120 days of cash."
She went on to say that the partnership has been bumpy because health care is bumpy. "I think I can safely say that we didn't know what we were getting into when became a hospital governing board. It has been a learning experience."
"I want to thank every single person who works at Gila Regional," Edwards continued. "My knowledge of the hospital began in 2016 when the Cancer Center fiasco happened, and the Cancer Center closed.
"I thank all of you for giving your all, which was exacerbated by the pandemic," she said. "But what you do allows us to be able to have this meeting today. I thank each of my fellow governing board members who had no idea what they were getting into when they ran to be commissioners. I want to thank everyone and express my appreciation for the partnership we have as the governing board. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge our interim CEO and interim CFO."
Edwards then said she had some "really great news. I've never forgotten walking down a hospital hallway one day and seeing buckets to catch water. We knew the roof was scary. Now we have a new roof that our interim CFO says is about 90 percent complete. We are also getting started, although it's been going on for a while, on a renovation of the labor and delivery area. We last year instituted pay raises to make our nurses competitive, and we are getting ready to institute raises for CNAs, techs and phlebotomists to get up to market rate. We have a lot of really great things happening. We are on a roll, and I want to thank everyone for their hard work."
The members then went into executive session.
When they came out of executive session, Edwards said only items on the agenda had been addressed and no action was taken.
Two items of board meeting minutes were approved, and the board had no old business to address.
The first item of new business was a recommendation from the Medical Staff Executive Committee to approve provider credentialing, which the governing board members did.
The next item considered a consulting service agreement between New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants Ltd. and Gila Regional Medical Center.
HealthTech S3 regional vice president Mike Lieb spoke to it after a motion and second was made. He said it was the first of three. "This one is directly with New Mexico Oncology Hematology to develop the official transition plan, including physicians. This puts us well down the path. Our full intention is to make it totally seamless, so we can continue to provide cancer care here at Gila Regional ad infinitum. It's been a lot of work, but it's a good solid first step."
Edwards asked Lieb to talk about the fair market study.
Lieb said: "As a contracting hospital that runs under CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid) rules and is a county governmental entity, there are certain legal structures we are bound by in the matter of compensation. We have to pay a fair market value for physician services. As part of this process, we did a fair market value survey. We provided information to the survey company and so did NM Oncology. They confirmed we have a clean bill on that matter."
Edwards said this was a concern because the fair market value of a rural hospital might not be adequate for an Albuquerque-based operation. "It has come out all right."
"We've been given assurances that we are good to go," Lieb said. "We're excited for the next steps."
Governing Board Member Billy Billings asked for assurance that it was OK for NMOHC, too.
"We received assurance that NMOHC is fine with this," Lieb said. "There may be a couple of tweaks, and she knows that it was being brought to you today."
Edwards gave a shout out to everyone who has been working on this at the hospital. "We are thrilled to be this far along in the process. We are looking forward to the partnership with Dr. McAneny."
Lieb said he and leadership had met with the staff at the cancer center to assure them that it is continuity of service for the staff and community.
Billings said he had received some communication from that meeting, and that they would be working for NMOHC.
Lieb agreed that the staff would fall under the NMOHC. "Our assurance was that everyone will be whole. It will be the same folks taking care of our community members."
The motion was approved.
The next item is the consideration of the capital purchase of anesthesia equipment from MindRay DS USA, Inc.
Interim Chief Executive Officer Marion A. "Tony" Thompson addressed the contract. "The purchase of seven anesthesia machines through Vizient, our purchase organization, replaces current equipment. It is funded through a USDA-funded equipment and ambulance funding, of which about 70 percent is grant monies."
The members approved the purchase.
The following item is the first amendment to the physician employment agreement to extend the agreement for two one-year agreements with Lindsay André Desmond Worrell, MD. Thompson said the first year could be extended for a second year, if Worrell decides he wants to continue the practice. It raises his salary from $215,000 to $237,000, and that correlates with fair market value.
Governing board members approved it.
The next agenda item was the recruiting agreement for placement of an interim infection control practitioner with Clutch Recruitment LLC.
Thompson said the company specializes in placing infection control practitioners. "Clutch provides the interim, and then the company contracts with another entity to provide the payroll functions. This process speeds up the process for interviews in a hard-to-fill position. It also benefits us for providing the person for a one-to-six-month time to determine whether the person is a good fit for the organization. And if the interim person is not a good fit, it is a simple 30-day cancellation process. If the interim is a really good fit and is interested in moving here to permanently practice, a conversion fee is paid by Clutch, and it releases the interim from employment with Clutch to employment with Gila Regional."
The person is due on June 13, Compliance and Quality Officer Denice Baird confirmed.
Board Member Harry Browne asked if the third-party payment system is something the hospital does regularly with interim positions.
Thompson said there are recruitment outfits that are one person to 150 people. "So, if you look at that, national operations are more complete. If I were a single person that wanted to use my experience to help recruit people, I would use a payroll service."
Edwards noted that this particular specialty position is very hard to find. Again Baird confirmed with a positive nod.
Members moved to approve the agreement.
The following item considered the renewal of a purchase agreement for information services security for systems, components and cloud storage with Cisco Systems Inc. via PC Connections, a Vizient GPO (general purchase organization) vendor.
Thompson said in July 2021, the board approved a three-year agreement with Vizient. The first year was $103,000. The renewal for years two and three, due to the addition of a firewall, is now $137,053. It has come back for reapproval due to the increase.
Members approved the renewal.
The final item of new business was consideration of a resolution 2022-08 to amend resolution 2022-07 to clarify the state agency named therein and to include Donation Agreement for approval and signature by the governing board regarding real property located at 805 Tom Foy Blvd. Bayard NM.
Thompson said: "Some things are just not simple. When the board approved donating the property to the city of Bayard and sent in the paperwork to the state agency, we had misstated their agency. The Board of Finance requested that GRMC and Bayard include a donation agreement. And the saga continues."
Members approved the agreement with the clarification and the addition.
The next article will begin with the reports.