PMC Foundation Receiving Grant Funding

Mike Bryant, Prowers Medical Center Foundation Director shared some good news with the PMC board during their August meeting.  A $260,189 grant has been awarded to the PMC Clinic for care of indigent patients.  That was coupled with the news that Prowers Medical Center had been awarded a Colorado DOLA grant for $350,000 to help upgrade the hospital’s HVAC system and a chiller unit.  Bryant said some smaller awards have also been received, including $7,500 from the Huddleston-Butler Memorial Foundation for the speech therapy department as well as $10,000 to be used for physician recruitment.  Applications are being submitted to El Pomar and the Anschutz Foundation for smaller grant funding opportunities.  The PMC Foundation will also be paid a fee for acting as the fiscal agent for LiveWell Prowers County projects.  Bryant said $4,000 was raised all total for a Poker Fund Run held by the Foundation this past July.  The winner, Eldon Frey, turned his winnings back over to the Foundation.  Twenty-two entries competed in a 435 mile, five state run and $1,200 will be allocated to the purchase of an anesthesia machine.  Bryant said there are plans for another run early in 2014. 

Hospital Chief Executive Officer, Craig Loveless, explained to the board that he will enter into an agreement with Colorado University’s medical center in which $10,000 a year from the hospital will be applied to funding for a medical student who will contract with a hospital for two years following their residency.  Loveless said the average finder’s fee for physician recruitment runs to around $30,000 and amortized over several years for future medical students who are pledged to a rural medical track career, will amount to a long term savings for PMC.  Loveless said PMC is also beginning a recruitment program for graduating high school students who will pursue a career as a physician.  Also administered through C.U., he said the eight year, BA-BS-MD program allows for a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree which will transition into medical school at the conclusion of their first four years of college.  Loveless said, “This is a great opportunity for those high school students who already know what career they want to follow after they graduate.” 

Board members set September 12 for a work session to explore finances and plans for renovations to the hospital.  Some cost overruns have been noted for needed structural improvements not noted during the initial planning sessions.  Loveless said the increased costs are not tied to market pricing and the basic work will be required.  The increased costs have caused the board to review the comprehensive report submitted by Honeywell Building Solution representatives.  There are basic improvements needed to bring portions of the hospital up to code compliance such as surgery suites, emergency power upgrades and smoke evacuation requirements for the surgery room and the initial plans for energy savings in the HVAC and electrical upgrades are not in question.  The hospital is also looking at a several million dollar project working with CPI Construction that specializes in hospital expansion and upgrades.  Most items are patient and healing environment focused improvements and code requirements.  

RN Mark Headlee, the Prowers Medical Center Quality Improvement Director, informed board members that a bi-lingual patient survey at the hospital is being prepared for distribution to analyze patients’ viewpoints on the level of care they received at the hospital.    The information compiled from the HCQAHPS surveys will be compared to similar sized hospitals as PMC which will offer details of how services are ranked at similar medical facilities.  His search for a vendor has been narrowed which will charge the hospital a fee based on the number of surveys on a monthly basis.  The vendor will be responsible for forwarding the results to a government agency.

By Russ Baldwin