Staff writer
After reviewing bids from Hutton Construction Tuesday evening, St. Luke Hospital Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Armstrong said that the hospital construction project is $70,000 under budget.
Ideas previously jettisoned because of budget concerns were reintroduced into the construction plans, including a canopy over the Emergency Room entrance, limestone work around the emergency room, and a walk-in cooler.
Armstrong said he will meet with Hutton representatives every two weeks to receive updates on the construction process.
The $70,000 gained in the construction budget contrasts the $50,221 lost in August because of contractual adjustments. St. Luke is $1,331 in the red with two months remaining in the fiscal year.
“We’re pretty confident we’ll come out with a pretty good bottom line,” Armstrong said.
The board approved the 2011 operating and capital budgets, which projects a 7 percent revenue increase, based on increased patients’ costs across the board, to offset a 6 percent increase in expenses, leaving a margin of 2.3 percent, according to Armstrong.
In other business:
- After a 30-minute executive session to discuss personnel, the board agreed to allow administration to continue searching for a new full-time physician.
- Armstrong was also looking into the possibility of extending pediatrician Derrick Brown’s lease arrangement with the hospital.
- Armstrong presented the board with a draft of a strategic plan designed to increase physician recruitment for the hospital.