Newman board approves more than $100,000 in capital purchases
By Brandy Nance
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Newman Regional Health trustees approved $188,375 in capitol expenditures during Wednesday’s board meeting.
The first request was for a combination oven in the dietary kitchen for $20,063. The request is an emergency replacement of the oven, said Holly French, chief financial officer at Newman.
“It hasn’t been functioning since August,” French said. “We’ve been working without it right now. Nutritional services does depend on that oven.”
The second request was for a nurse call system in the amount of $29,312. The nurse call system on the 2 South West area of the hospital is a stand alone system and most of the patient care areas have been upgraded. The existing system in the 2 South West area does not function as other areas. As other renovations are begun next year, the upgrade in the system will allow this area to become a functioning unit.
The last and most expensive request was $139,000 for a new generator. The generator that is being purchased is used and has about 300 hours on it. The generator is replacing a 1972 generator and will be a 800-kilowatt generator.
“Purchasing this generator will save us $50,000,” French said.
Terry Lambert, Newman chief executive officer, said it is not uncommon to purchase used generators.
“The old one has 6,000 hours on it now,” Lambert said.
Lambert also told the board that the hospital spent 2 1/2 days of training on emergency preparedness and decontamination.
“It’s just really a good thing,” he said. “Our staff learned a lot. This was another opportunity for us to practice.
We need to be as prepared as we can and it’s events like this that get us ready for that.”
In other news, Lambert said that orthopedic recruitment is still at the top of the priority list. The hospital is researching several options.
“We’re doing everything that I think is humanely possible to come up with something,” he said. “We’re pulling out all the stops.”
The Hospital Foundation has started advertising for a part-time foundation director. An office area currently is being renovated for this person. Lambert said resumes have been coming in already and the board hopes to act on this soon.
“I think the foundation, for the first time in many many years, has some good momentum,” Lambert said. “I think we are really going to start moving forward with the foundation.”
The hospital plans to terminate an agreement with the Veteran’s Administration Clinic. The VA is no longer using hospital services. The hospital prefers to house people in their specialty clinic that will use their services, Lambert said.