Those who are interested can attend the April 6 meeting

By Lauren Brown
Burns Times-Herald

The Harney Hospital Foundation is looking for new members. Gretchen Bates and Sandra Obradovich addressed the hospital board at the Feb. 25 meeting and said that while the three members currently on the foundation’s board will continue, they would like to recruit new members and hand over some responsibility.

In a letter presented to the board Bates wrote, “I feel it is important to stress that while the three of us currently serving on the foundation’s board have tremendously enjoyed our involvement, an infusion of new talent is needed to maintain the foundation’s viability.” She went on to say that until more members are recruited, the group will need to scale back its activities. Meetings will take place on a quarterly basis and the next one will be on April 6.

Board Chairman Tim Smith suggested that the hospital’s health information services coordinator help recruit new members with some advertisements, and Denise Rose in development and recruiting said she knew of some people who might be interested in taking some leadership roles in the foundation.

In other business:

• Hospital CEO Jim Bishop presented the board with Cody Hodges’ final report. As the Community Health Improvement Partnership (CHIP) coordinator for the last year, Hodges has worked with local community members on prioritizing health issues. Among other programs, he initiated work on the school-based health center project and the chemotherapy program that the hospital will soon be implementing.

Hodges will become an independent contractor and will focus on building a contract grant writing and contract lobbying business.

“I think it has been a tremendous program,” Bishop said of the CHIP program.

The board agreed that a letter of thanks should be written to Hodges and the community members who assisted him in his work;

• the hospital has hired a new EMS manager. His name is Jeffery Sceirine and he is currently waiting for his Oregon paramedic license to arrive in Burns;

• Chief Nursing Officer Barb Chambers said that she and Jodi McLean recently made a site visit to the Cancer Care Center of the Cascades and gathered a lot of useful information and ideas to use at Harney District Hospital as it proceeds with its chemotherapy program. She is planning another site visit to a facility in Grande Rhonde in March;

• a report from Chief of Medical Staff Holland Haynie stated that the number of patients at the clinic has increased dramatically with the addition of nurse practitioner Toni Feist and physician assistant Lisa Howe;

• Chief Financial Officer Catherine White said that in researching what the hospital can do to alleviate accounts receivable issues, she found that many hospitals have a financial counselor who consults with patients before their procedure so that they know exactly how much they will owe ahead of time and can devise a payment plan. She said the hospital could either train someone in such a position or hire someone new.

Chairman Smith told her to look into the idea a bit more.

The next HDH board meeting will be at 6 p.m. March 24 in the board meeting room downstairs in the hospital.