The hospital board recently took a trip through the building, stopping along the way to see all of the changes and additions to the building. It won’t be too long before the 2½-year, $24.5 million project will be done and the county will have, essentially, a new care center and new hospital.
At its March 22 meeting, the hospital board approved the request of radiology manager Caroline Hanford to purchase a new DXA scanner for the radiology department.
This scanner measures bone density using two X-ray beams (with different energy levels) aimed at the patient’s bones; when soft tissue absorption is subtracted out by the computer program, bone density can be determined from the absorption of each beam by bone. DXA scans are typically used to diagnose and follow osteoporosis, and can also be used to measure total body composition and body fat.
During the recent move to the newly built space for the department and subsequent physicist survey of the scanner, Hanford said an error message occurred, and the scanner didn’t work anymore. The cost to repair the 13-year-old scanner is estimated at $17,806, although Hanford noted that the scanner might not be able to be fixed.
Two quotes were received for a new scanner, one from Horizon DXA for $56,500 and one from GE DXA for $33,786. Hanford said the more expensive machine was faster, but both do the same thing, and she recommended the purchase of the cheaper GE DXA, which was approved.
After 37 years Rory Smith retired from his position as head of the maintenance department at North Shore Health. His retirement was effective Thursday, March 22.
A retirement party with cake and coffee was held for Rory from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. later that day.
Smith started at North Shore Health on May 11, 1981, after first working on a construction project at the hospital with C.O. Backlund & Sons Contracting.
As North Shore Health administrator Kimber Wraalstad noted, “Rory began his relationship with North Shore Health with a construction project and is ending his career with a construction project. We wish Rory the very best in his well-deserved retirement.”
An audit team from Clifton Larson Allen (CLA) came to North Shore Health from March 5-8 and completed the audit fieldwork. Wraalstad said the audit went smoothly, especially in light of the recent personnel changes. She also praised Vera Schumann and her staff for the work they did, both on a day-today basis and their preparation for the audit.
The long trips to Duluth and beyond to receive at least some types of chemotherapy could be ending for patients who will soon have a choice to receive the same treatment at North Shore Health.
Currently, said Wraalstad, five nurses are completing an online Oncology Nursing Education program, and when they have finished the course, they will spend three days at St. Luke’s training in their infusion center.
The newly installed compounding hoods and brand-new pharmacy have been certified, and the pharmacists will be receiving education regarding the preparation and handling of chemotherapy drugs.
“Kathy Bernier in Health Information Management and Revenue Cycle is also obtaining information about coding and billing requirements for chemotherapy infusion billing,” said Wraalstad, adding that they hope to have this service available for the public later this summer.
The hospital board received a February Wilderness Health Board update. Wilderness Health has established a mental health subcommittee to work on expanding mental health resources and access throughout the IHP service area with the goal of enhancing the providers’ ability to help their patients and provide quality and timely care.
Goals include increasing patient access to behavioral health resources; providing education and support to providers and staff; decreasing non-emergency ER mental health visits; increasing physician engagement and to move towards a system-wide care coordination model for mental health patients.
Last year North Shore health joined with other regional hospitals and clinics with PreferredOne to introduce Wilderness Health ACO.
The locally developed plan offers northern Minnesota employers more choice in how they provide employees health care coverage. The program features 10 regional hospitals, including St. Luke’s, Fairview Range, North Shore Health and Cook Hospital and more than 30 primary care clinics. On average, the ACO plan is 15 percent less expensive than open access network products.
Wilderness Health ACO works with PreferredOne, a flexible health plan administrator based in Golden Valley.
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