Hospital board postpones action on nursing home
The Board of Directors of Hospital District No. 1 at its Sept. 11 meeting, postponed/tabled for the time being a proposal from Mid-America Management, based in Wichita, to operate the living center (long-term care facility).
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Cronkleton reported that the facilities lost about $79,000 "on paper" in August. "There is not much patient flow in the summer months, they are slower," he told the board.
Home Health Care had a good month, though, Cronkleton said, calling it "the star for the month."
He and St. Luke Administrator Doug Newman defined swing-bed care for some at the meeting who were not certain of its meaning.
Swing-bed care is skilled nursing care in an acute-care bed (one usually dedicated to acute-care patients). Patients can stay in a "swing bed" for up to 110 days under Medicare guidelines, when doctors feel they are not ready to go home.
The facility had seven days more of swing-bed use in August than of acute-care bed use, Cronkleton said, and that is somewhat unusual, he added.
At the end of the meeting, the board conducted two closed sessions. One was proprietary, dealing with Banner Health System of Fargo, N.D., current operator of the facilities.
The second was for the board to visit individually with Cronkleton and Newman to determine their intent or feelings "about remaining with us after Banner leaves us," according to board member Peggy Blackman, who made the motion to have the second closed session.
No action was taken by the board after the closed sessions.
