Hospital board changes election dates

After little discussion, Ector County Hospital Board members approved moving election dates to odd-numbered years during their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday at Medical Center Hospital.

Following a presentation from Ector County Elections Administrator Mitzi Scheible, board members decided to follow in the same path of Ector County Independent School District and Odessa College. Both entities recently approved changing election dates to odd-numbered years.

ECHD vice president Judy Hayes motioned to change the election years prior to a resolution being read. Hospital attorney Brooks Landgraf stepped in quickly and read the resolution to change the hospital’s election years to odd-numbered years.

“The more paper there is, the better off you are,” MCH attorney Richard Buck joked.

Earlier in the meeting, MCH’s nine United Way committee members were finally ready to reveal their total pledges for the 2011 fundraising cycle after a month of fundraising and hospital-wide educations presentations.

“Do you want a drum roll?” ECHD board president David Dunn asked the committee as they stepped up to the podium.

As anticipation built on whether or not the committee would surpass their $150,000 goal, MCH director of communications Jacqui Gore revealed that the committee and hospital employees raised $170,316. The total topped the 2010 total of $160,456 that hospital employees gave.

“I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry, but it’s hard not to,” committee member Eva Ramirez said. “We did what it took to educate our employees so they could open their hearts and, most importantly, their wallets.”

The hospital campaign began Aug. 22 with an agency fair and ended Sept. 16. Committee members visited various hospital departments day and night for information sessions and presentations. The hospital had 561 employees commit to donating at least one hour’s pay per month to United Way in the Fair Share Givers program.

“I’ve run out of superlatives to describe this group,” United Way executive director Tom Pursel said. “They just set the standard, not only within the hospital, but within this community.”

Celebrations continued as MCH chief executive Bill Webster recognized Dr. Donald Davenport and nurse Jessica Corney-Wilson for their work in helping the Bariatric Surgery Center receive accreditation to receive Medicare. The surgery program started in 2003.

“There are times when we thought, ‘When would we get here?’ ” Webster said. “It’s been a lot of hard work.”

With the accreditation, the surgery center can treat Medicare patients and recognize commercial insurance.

Board member Richard Herrera was absent from the meeting.

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In other action, the board:

• Named Teresa Cates (clinical), Rachel Larez (non-clinical) and Carolyn Bickerstaff (nursing) as October employees of the month.
• Heard reports from the finance committee, the joint conference committee and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
• Approved a bid of $95,000 for roof repairs on the L-Building on Golder. The project will total $100,000 and begin in November.
• Authorized the hospital’s annual contribution to the Texas County and District Retirement System. MCH will contribute a rate of 9.66 percent for 2012 to ensure there are enough funds for MCH retirees. The 2011 rate was 9.29 percent.
• Approved the Pharmacy OneSource Sentri7 agreement for a web-based platform that will help reduce the time pharmacists spend reading paperwork. The program will cost the hospital $6,866.27 monthly for 36 months for a total of $82,395 annually.