Hospital purchases equipment

Jay County Hospital will be replacing aging equipment used for laparoscopic procedures for around $140,000.
The hospital board of trustees Wednesday approved purchase of new laparoscopic equipment from Stryker at a cost of $137,603.34.
“This is replacement equipment,” said hospital CEO Joe Johnston. “Some of our laparoscopic equipment is aging quickly.”
“What’s the expected life (of the equipment)?” asked board president David Littler.
“Maybe five years,” Johnston replied. “They take a beating.”
Because of the wear and tear, Johnston said a major advantage for choosing Stryker is that service is more readily available, since the company has three technicians available out of Muncie. The company that provided the current equipment has only one technician based out of Indianapolis.
The purchase comes in well under the budgeted amount of $200,000 for the replacement.
In other business Wednesday night, the hospital board:
•Heard the auxiliary report from auxiliary president Rachel Stultz. Stultz said that 54 volunteers worked 769.5 hours in February.
Stultz also updated board members on other auxiliary projects. She said that the auxiliary will award $2,000 worth of scholarships to Jay County High School seniors this year and reminded the board that the auxiliary will host its bazaar and bake sale on April 1 and 2 and its book sale on April 6.
•Heard the financial report from chief financial officer Don Michael. Michael said that outpatient volumes were down in February, likely due to poor weather during the month.
The hospital suffered a net loss of $344,619 in the month.
•Approved a five-year software agreement with Roche Labs for RALS glucometer software at a total cost of $16,000. The software helps to track and output blood sugar data for diabetic patients.
•Approved payment of 1,090 checks and disbursements totaling $2,411,853.
•Agreed to a one-year contract with Perceptive Software at a cost of $25,387. The company provides the ImageNow software, which currently has electronic versions of patient medical charts.
The hospital will eventually move all electronic charts into the hospital’s Meditech electronic medical records system. However, until that transfer can be completed, the hospital will need to continue to utilize ImageNow.
•Approved purchase of computer switches and modules from ESI at a cost not to exceed $17,500. The purchase was needed after some switches in the hospital malfunctioned last week causing some systems to go down.
•Granted a reappointment and a change of duties to two medical staff employees.
•Approved updates to the Performance Improvement Plan for 2011.
•Were informed by Johnston that, due to the overwhelming number of people who utilize the reduced cost blood draws during the bi-annual health fairs, the hospital is looking for a way to provide that service year round.[[In-content Ad]]