On Thursday, August 20 several members of Oddz & Endz presented two checks totaling $2,877 to the North Shore Hospital Board. The money will be used to help finance a fireplace with a TV above the mantel in a new family room to be added to the Care Center. From (L-R) Oddz & Endz volunteer Missy Smith; Hospital Board Members Sharon Blooomquist and Howard Abrahamson; Oddz & Endz Board Members EvaLyn Carlson, Sandi Furlow, Barb Jansen and Arvis Thompson.
With the $24.5 million renovation/ rehabilitation now started, North Shore Hospital Board Chair Kay Olson told her fellow board members that this wasn’t the year to raise the hospital and care center levy and after short, but thorough discussion, her colleagues agreed.
“Just remember, any increase in the levy would have nothing to do with the cost of construction, but would have everything to do with [funding] operations,” said Hospital Administrator Kimber Wraalstad, who said she wasn’t advocating for an increase, but was clarifying the point for the board.
Longtime Board Member Tom Spence nodded his head in agreement and said, “This is a bad year to think about increasing it.”
Board Member Howard Abrahamson said that with the school seeking an excess levy referendum and the county looking at high budget numbers right now, it would be wise to stay at $800,000. Board Member Sharon Bloomquist made a motion and it passed unanimously.
Oddz & Endz donation
Bloomquist presented a check to the Care Center for $2,877 from Oddz & Endz. The gift will be used to help purchase a fireplace and TV above the fireplace mantel for a new family room that will be added to the Care Center during the remodeling.
Oddz & Endz is a nonprofit organization that operates a “repurpose, reuse and recycle store,” with all of the profits (less expenses) going back to the community. The hospital board was very appreciative of the gift.
In a related issue, Bloomquist announced that she was going to be a “foster parent” to all of the plants that are located in the back of the Care Center that will have to be removed when construction crews begin work on the expansion in the next week or two. A crew will help dig and pot the plants on Wednesday, August 26 and Bloomquist will take them to their new home near Bloomquist Mountain. No word yet on whether she will give them all names in the interim.
Financial report
“It’s been a profitable month,” said Financial Director Vera Schumann who presented the July executive summary and financial report. July saw a net increase of $131,000 and a profit of $42,000. When asked why, Schumann replied, “Volumes drive revenue and our volume was way up. Our expenses are also less than budgeted.”
June was also up, with income from operations of $65,283, which was also ahead of budget by $143,475. From year to date the hospital/care center is $132,000 in net income ahead of last year, Schumann said.
Currently the care center is at 74 percent capacity and while the ambulance personnel are as busy as ever, the runs aren’t producing as much revenue as last year due to a variety of reasons including call-offs when the ambulance arrives at a scene, Schumann said.
Schumann said the budget process would be streamlined this year, and she would be assisting department heads that have questions. She outlined a timeline for the board, with the final budget to be presented to the board on November 19 for review, and a final vote to take place on December 17.
Care Center to get a defibrillator
Board member Sharon Bloomquist brought up a request to purchase an automatic external defibrillator (AED) for the care center, and the board voted to purchase one at a cost of around $2,500. Spence said he thought it was important for the staff to retain their CPR skills even if a new defibrillator was brought in, and Wraalstad—who is a trained paramedic and CPR instructor— said yearly training for all staff would remain central as a part of offering care to patients.
“We are not going to loosen or diminish the requirements of CPR training,” Wraalstad said, adding that she has been a CPR instructor for the past 22 years. “If you love somebody, you should know CPR. That’s why I put my personal time into teaching it.”
Wraalstad said the hospital has received an invitation from the Helmsley Trust to complete a full proposal for funds to purchase a replacement for the hospital’s computed tomography (CT) scanner.
If approved, the Helmsley Trust would grant $400,000, which would pay for much of the cost to replace the hospital’s CT scanner.
“The goal of the full proposal is to assist the selected parties to get to the finish line and not weed us out from the other applicants,” said Wraalstad. “The proposal is subject to trustee approval and we are not guaranteed to receive the grant.”
All told, the Helmsley Trust received 102 applications and the information provided was scored based on rurality, factors surrounding the CT scanner and service line, financial need, and the financial health of the facility, said Wraalstad.
Construction project beginning
All of the building permits are in place and bids have been let to begin the $24.5 million remodel of the hospital and care center, said Wraalstad of the two-year project.
Work has begun on the plumbing and electrical systems for the new boiler, and fiber optic lines have begun to be run.
When the work begins on the care center, Wraalstad said the maple wood partition in the front will be taken down, but an artisan is being sought who can repurpose the wood and fashion a wooden bench out of it, or find some other useful purpose for the wood that can be used in the care center.
As for when the digging will begin for the foundation work on the care center, “It should start any day now,” said Wraalstad.
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