Hospital Board Hears Good and Rough

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The Yuma Hospital District Board of Directors heard good and challenging news during its regular monthly meeting, last week held in the Pearse Board Room inside Yuma District Hospital and Clinics.

Four of the five members were in attendance — President Monica King, Mitch Korf, Mark Werts and Elizabeth Hickman. Board member Delaina Klein was absent.

Marci Givens, vice president of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, provided the good news, regarding the trauma programs at YDHC. She told the board that early intervention and stabilization are keys in a rural area, so there is an extensive program in place at the facility to be ready for any kind of trauma.

The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment conducts a Trauma Designation Review every three years, and YDCH’s was in February.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the results,” Givens told the board.

The Review Team was at the facility for a full day. Givens reported that the facility passed with zero deficiencies and received many kudos from the survey team. She said the comments included “great, fantastic, best practices, and it was evident the Yuma hospital has a way to wrap its arms around a patient in need.”

“A trauma program takes a team effort, both internally and externally,” Givens told the board.

She specifically recognized YDHC’s trauma leadership, including Dr. Matt Nowland and RN’s Deb Wilkins and Alison Hisam.

CEO Anne Kruetzer filled in the board on the response to a comment made by a patient at the previous board meeting about having trouble getting through on the phone system. She said an effort led by Ted Beckman and Kelly Hisam involved calling every YDHC number and listening to the voice mail. Kreutzer reported the facility transitioned its phone system last August, and not all of the voice messaging was updated. They ended up recovering 800 unanswered messages.

Kreutzer said all of those people were called back, apologized to, and made sure the reason they had called had been taken care of. She added also that some departments did not have functioning voicemail because the carrier made changes without informing the facility.

The CEO later shared a town hall was held with the staff celebrating a good year in 2024, and also went over the facility’s shared goals, such as financial health and community engagement.

Leadership has evaluated salaries and health insurance offerings. Walk-in clinic hours have been increased. In regards to improving patient experience, Kreutzer told the board the district has hired a service to help with translation when a staff translator is not on-site. Four staff members also are in the process of getting interpreter certification.

There also was a lot of discussion about Cerner Works, the electronics medical record system the district switched to in the summer of 2020.

Kreutzer related to the board a myriad of issues with the system uncovered by a team of consultants the district hired. She said there are a lot of costs involved, and it probably will take a full year to implement all the changes. First on the list will be getting the system cleared up with the lab.

Financial Officer Rick Korf that the hospital district operated at deficit of $161,000 in January, primarily to volumes being low so revenue was below what was budgeted.

Kreutzer said there were very low patient visits the first two weeks in January “which is great because people were healthy.” There also were some key expenses in January that the district did not have in 2024.

Board member Korf noted there were some positives, such as cash management and that long-term debt came down $1 million, and days in Account Receivables is coming down.

The board unanimously approved the annual letter of commitment to Zero Suicide.

A quality report overview also was held. Many of the particulars are confidential because of the belief if protected from the public, it will encourage providers to talk about mistakes and near misses, leading to better overall practices. Kreutzer went over several different components with the board.

The board’s next regular meeting will be March 26.