ECHD board approves expansion

A nursing program grew, an executive committee stayed the same and millions of dollars were spent Tuesday evening during the Ector County Hospital Board of Directors monthly meeting.

The board authorized spending $170,000 over the next two years as part of a partnership with another regional hospital to bring about 20 Texas Tech University nursing students to the Permian Basin beginning in July.

Also, it appropriated an additional $2 million for the purchase of 19 new anesthesia machines at Medical Center Hospital that will replace the existing 7-year-old machines, which are reportedly outdated.

The board also voted to keep its existing executive board officers - trustees Judy Hayes as president, David Dunn as vice president and Virgil Trower as the committee's third member.

Also, the board approved the temporary placement of Virginia Sredanovich as the board's secretary following the resignation of former secretary Delma Marin.

Marin's resignation came several weeks after an incident in May. She accused board member Abraham Torres of hitting her on the arm during a confrontation over federal funding applications. Marin filed a police report and Torres later turned himself in and was released on bond.

Sredanovich, who is secretary to MCH Chief Executive Officer Bill Webster, will serve as the board's secretary until Marin's vacant position is filled.  

Dr. Sharon Cannon, regional dean for Tech's Anita Thigpin Perry School of Nursing in the Permian basin, said the expanded nursing program will partner with the Permian Regional Medical Center in Andrews to share about 20 junior and senior nursing students for whose clinical educaiton the Lubbock school did not have the capacity.

TTU and MCH's current partnership already has nursing students, Webster said, but this new program will be the first one to offer a generic four-year nursing program. 

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Trustee Mary Thompson asked Cannon after the board's approval of the program, which will cost the hospital about $85,000 per year.

Plans call for the program's $340,000 total price tag over the next two years to be split down the middle with PMRC. 

Board member Ceretha Cartwright echoed Thompson's approval of the new program.

"This is good," she said. "This is very good. I tip my had to Tech. You guys are really getting things going."

The board also authorized the spending of $166,000 per year for a new digital medical billing program, McKesson RevRunner, which officials claimed will streamline patient admission procedures and expedite MCH's coordination with more than 520 major insurance providers.

Another $113,000 was granted for the purchase of a plot of land near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Fourth Street.

The plot of land, which currently belongs to the city of Odessa, was touted by officials as an essential part of a long-term plan for the upcoming construction of the Center for Woman and Infants in that location.

Additionally, the board:

>> Approved spending $4,795 per month to lease a new digital copy machine. The contract includes service, maintenance and some supplies.

>> Approved the hospital membership of 11 new staff members. 

>> Granted the continued privileges of one doctor to perform pediatric cardiology and another doctor to perform circumcisions.

>> Removed provisional status of four hospital doctors.

>> Approved one part-time ProCare agreement to hire a new pediatrician for $91 per hour.

>> The sale of inter-local agreement properties.

>> Re-appointed five already-serving physicians to the ProCare board. 

MCH EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH

>> Clinical employee: Kate Johnson, clinical dietician.

>> Non-clinical employee: Lisa Corley, nurse analyst.

>> Nurse: Lori Hawthorn, registered nurse.