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Show Dale Rosenlund resigns hospital administrator position The Gunnison Valley Hospital Board of Directors accepted the in their meeting Monday evening. They hired Dr. Richard McDermott to fill that position until a new hospital administrator can be hired. McDermott presented his management review of the Gunnison Hospital to the board which covered such areas as cash flow, payback of loans, and to verify an increasing number of complaints from some employees and members of the medical staff to the effect that the administrator was not effectively managing the financial, physical and employee resources at the hospital. McDermott was contracted to direct the governing board as to what to do to return the hospital to a profitable situation and reduce employee and medical staff unrest. McDermott pointed out that in the past 1 0 years significant change have taken place in the health care industry. One of the main changes deals with prospective reimbursement or a payment system under which hospitals agree in advance to accept a fixed payment for the delivery of a predefined set of health care services. One example of this is medicare payments where they are divided into one of 467 disease categories and these payments are fixed no matter the volume or complexity of medical services rendered by the hospital. Most rural hospitals fare poorly under this manner of dispers-ment- s. , Reduced hospital admissions and average length of stays have been affected by this payment system at the Gunnison Hospital. Another area of concern for the hospital is the dramatic increase in health care costs. Part of the reason for this increase is the increased cost of resignation of Administrator Dale Rosenlund Volume 66 Number physical facilities and expensive technology. Small hospitals that cannot afford this equipment are often saddled with the perception of low quality. These facilities eventually face eroding patient volumes. One of the significant health care trends of this decade has been the of growth multihospital systems. The most important advantage they offer is that of group purchasing and shared services. McDermott pointed out that rural facilities affiliated with larger hospital chains are often more competitive in their costs and in the range of services. Aging population bases and declining economies are a couple of other problems affecting the hospital market. Most rural hospitals have patients which increase conhigher proportions of Medicare and self-pa- y tractual adjustments and bad debt write-offMcDermott attributes some of the problems of the Hospital to the lack of willingness or ability of past governing boards to fully assume the role of being legally and morally responsibility for the operation of the hospital. He pointed out that like many rural hospitals the Gunnison Valley Hospital was dominated for many years by a strong physician, Dr. Stewart, who through many years of dedication and service earned the respect of the community, and acquired the personal influence and power necessary to prevail on most medical issues. McDermott felt that Dr. Stewart performed the function of the Governing Board, while the actual members of the board allowed themselves to serve in an advisory capacity only. While this arrangement may not have been totally bad, given the history of the community and the personalities involved, the departure of Dr. s. Stewart left a void that was not filled until recently, when the existing Governing Board began to assume, for the first time in the history of the hospital, the responsibilities of its position, said McDermott in his report. As to the hospital plant and equipment the facility was built in 1 967 and although adequate at the time of its construction the building is now too small for the functions it must perform said McDermott. Plus the hospital is in need of medical and business office equipment McDermott felt that the hospital is fortunate to have a yountt, well trained and qualified medical staff. The members of the medical staff were well respected by their peers, who practice in adjacent IHC and Health Trust hospitals, said McDermott, but the medical staff has been divided over the past three years...as to the effectiveness of the hospital administrator." He points out that some of these physicians have gone in compethe hospital for outpatient laboratory and radiology services, with tition of the hospital lab and radiology departments to citing their needs. This has eroded the revenue base of the hospital and has made it even harder for the hospital to acquire an maintain the laboratory and radiology equipment necessary to service the medical staff. Another area of concern listed by McDermott is the competition which is located in Richfield and Mt. Pleasant that are both newer and better equipped. In addition they are supported by an organization with significant financial resources, strong marketing and support service departments and to dominate the market area serviced by the an apparent determination Continued on page Wednesday, April 13, 1988 15 3 Price .35 Search for Supt. for District continues The March 24 meeting of the Sevier District Board of Education was held at Pahvant Elementary School, Richfield. Principal Elwood Willis reported on the projected student enrollment for the Ashman and He noted that Pahvant schools. should enrollment Kindergarten remain steady for three years. As the presentelementary students move on to the Middle School, the overall enrollment at the elementary will decrease because more students will be leaving than entering. Pahvant has one of the largest student-teachratios in the district, and said that he and Ronald Utley, principal of Ashman Elementary are defining attendance boundaries for the two elementarys before school begins next year. Discussion was held concerning moving the 5th graders back to er Salina Elementary from the North Sevier Middle School, where they have been housed the past few years. One hundred forty six parents responded to a survey asking if they favored the project: 118 said they were in favor of having the 5th graders at the Elementary school; 1 8 said they preferred keeping them at NSMS; and 10 had no opinion. Four rooms will be available at Continued on page 3 New policy will be in effect at NSMS North Sevier has instigated a responsible for completing any new policy that will increase student missed assignments. progress, improve 4. If the work is still not comin the process, learning cooperation pleted the following day, the student and help the student become more is suspended from school until all acresponsible and work is caught up. Periodic evalucording to Principal Boyd Gumey. Mr. Gurney notes that the ations will be made to get the student teachers and staff of the school have back in school as quickly as the stubecome concerned by the number of dent learns to accept their responsistudents who are not completing bility as a learner. Our objective is to teach all their assignments and becoming students well, and provide every incomplete in their learning. parent-teach- er d, Sarah Straw put the finishing touches on the new Chamber freeway sign that will read "No Bull. It's 1 1 0 miles of desert after Salina". for East bound traffic to The sign will be placed two miles West of Salina on ponder before they pass Salina. SIGN NEARS COMPLETION: xfended phone service April 30 Residents of Salina, Richfield, will be able to dial each Monroe and other within these three areas, toll-fre- e, beginning Saturday, April 30, 1988, according to Mt. Bell Public Relations officer Steve Linton. Currently, the calls within one of these cities to either of the other two, were long distance calls.requir-inthe dialing of 1, plus the seven distance digits of the number. Long assessed. also were charges However, beginning April 30, calls may be made within the areas. g free of charge. Linton says that there will be one change. Currently, some areas are able to dial a number in their own city by dialing just the last four digits of the .number; for example, in Salina, some calls can be made by omitting the 529-an- d dialing only the remaining four digits. The new system will require that all numbers be dialed in their entirety, using all seven digits. Of course, this service is not free, according to Mr. Linton. Added charges are as follows: Salina residence: $2 increase Salina business: $4 increase Richfield residence: .53 cents Richfield business: $1.05 Monroe residence: .53 cents Monroe business: $1.05 Both Monroe and Richfield were partly on the system prior to this time, and were being charged an increased rate for that service. Mr. Linton stresses that all customers in these areas should begin dialing the seven digit phone numbers immediately. . Mr. Gumey said that the school has been trying to give the students extra chances to succeed, but that it has encouraged procrastination instead of advancement The new policy will include the following guidelines: 1. Each student will be given a learning progress form for each class, and will record each assignment, date due, how much it is worth, and what grade he received on it after completion. This will ensure that the student is aware of his or her progress, and should be an aid to parents to know exactly where the child is in regard to classwork at any given time. 2. If a student docs not complete his assignments, on the second missed assignment he will call his parents by phone and tell them so. This will give the student that evening to catch up quickly before he gets so far behind that it is difficult to catch up with the rest of the class. The policy will not apply to assignments missed due to excused absences until a reasonable time after the student returns to school. 3. If the assignment is not done the next day, the student classtime by will spend the class period on an inschool suspension to make up the assignment. The student will still be opportunity for them to learn, said Principal Gumey. We feel that all students can learn, but that on many occasions they are not putting forth the effort to do so. When students dont try to learn, teachers cannot teach effecwill tively, and in some cases, it cause other students in the class not to be taught effectively, as they wait for the other students to catch up and material must be repeated for the student who does not try. We feel that this new policy will encourage our students to learn, will increase responsibility, and with success your student will gain better Mr. and confidence, concluded. Gumey self-estee- m Kent Parsons resigns from School Board A vacancy has been created in the Sevier District Board of Education, due to the resignation of Board member Kent Parsons, due to health reasons. An appointment will be made to fill the vacancy. Parsons made the decision to resign for health reasons. This will greatly reduce his work load, thus allowing him to stay employed at his present occupation, said Superintendent John Carl Tuft. Idontthink people realize what a stressful situation it is being a Board member, and the amount of time it requires to be a good one, he added. Mr. Parsons has been a very good Board member, and made this decision to resign much the same way he made decisions as a Board MemHe defined the ber, said Tuft. alternatives, studied them, weighed the pros and cons, and made a deci sion. Since he began office in 1 979, Mr. Parsons has been a real educational leader. He has a great understanding of the business. During his position as a Board Member, two new high schools w'ere built, one in North Sevier and one in South Sevier; a new middle school was completed in Richfield; and the Pahvant Elementary was remodeled, Supt. Tuft noted. The Sevier Board of Education will appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of Mr. Parsons term which will end January 1, 1990. Persons interested in this position from Precinct 1, comprised of Monroe, Austin, Elsinore, Joseph and Sevier, may submit a letter of intention to the Sevier DistrictBoard of Education Office by April 19, at Noon. |