New hospital board named

Members have been named for the board that will govern IU Health Jay beginning March 1.

CEO Dave Hyatt announced the names of the members of the new board while updating Jay County Hospital Board at its meeting Wednesday on progress toward the integration.

Jay County Hospital Board will meet one more time — noon Feb. 28 — before the facility is integrated into Indiana University Health as IU Health Jay on March 1. Following the integration, the hospital will be governed by an 11-member transitional board for three years.

That board will include all current board members — Dave Littler, Pat Miller, Roger Locker, Janet Bantz, Bill Hinkle, Debbie Kummer and Brad DeRome — as well as four members named by IU Health. Hyatt reported Wednesday that IU Health has selected Dr. Jeff Bird, president of IU Health’s east central region, Lori Luther, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital chief operating officer, John Littler, chair of IU Health’s east central region board, and Dr. Frank Vormohr, a Jay County native and physician at Jay County Hospital.

It was important to IU Health to add both a physician and a representative from Jay County, said Hyatt of the selection of Vormohr. (John Littler, Dave Littler’s brother, is also a Jay County native.)

The integration process has continued to go smoothly, Hyatt added, noting that training on the new electronic medical records system and new equipment is ongoing. (As the board was meeting, training sessions were being held in a pair of adjacent conference rooms.) Jay County Hospital employees will begin meeting with IU Health human resources representatives Jan. 31.

The facility will go live as IU Health Jay at midnight Feb. 28.

“The big part now is staging,” said Hyatt. “What has to be done on day one? … What can come later? …

“I can say, the investment into our clinical equipment, facilities and people is substantial. It’s going to be a good thing.”

He added that there are plans to hold an open house event for IU Health Jay in the months following the integration.

While the hospital has been doing better financially in fiscal 2019, which began Oct. 1, the issues that led to the decision to integrate have not gone away. Chief financial officer Don Michael reported that the hospital had an operating loss of $682,621 in December, bringing its total losses for the first three months of the fiscal year to $1.6 million. That’s less than the $2.3 million in losses for the same time period a year ago, but still represents significant financial struggles.

Jeff Horn, vice president of information and support services, and Jerry Bozell, vice president of human resources, updated the board on damage from a water line that froze and burst Dec. 30. Most of the damage was cosmetic, with repairs including replacement of drywall and baseboards and repainting. Carpeting and tile in the area was salvaged, thanks in large part to hospital employees who rushed in on the Saturday afternoon to help clean up the water, Hyatt said.

“That night it was amazing to see everybody pull together,” added Bozell. “It didn’t have water on things very long.”

A damage estimate is not yet available, but officials again said it is expected to clear the hospital’s $10,000 insurance deductible.

Another frozen water line caused a sprinkler head to burst three days later, but that leak was quickly contained and there was no damage.

In other business, the board:

•OK’d an updated management agreement for Jay Emergency Medical Service. The agreement reflects a new leadership structure, with Leslie Peterson, director of emergency services for the hospital, acting as JEMS director and overseeing shift supervisors Gary Barnett, Emily Anderson and John McFarland. The agreement will go to Jay County Commissioners for approval Monday.

•Approved the medical staff report, which included the following reappointments: Dr. David Brown (emergency medicine) to the active staff; Dr. Aditya Boddu (cardiology) and Dr. Christina Geatrakas, Dr. Giovanni Millare, Dr. Jay Donohoo II, Dr. James Rickards, Dr. Rolf Vrla, Dr. Stacy Patterson, Dr. Gregory Wolfe and Dr. Jack Drew (all teleradiology) to the courtesy staff; Tracy laux (nurse practitioner and Aaron jones, Melvin Christian Jr. and Melissa Chapman (all nurse anesthetists) as independent allied health professionals; and Holly Grube (physician extender) as a dependent allied health professional.

•Heard Hyatt present the auxiliary report with new president Kay LeMaster unable to attend the meeting. Seventy-six auxiliary members volunteer for a total of 1,079 hours in December. Gift shop sales in November and December totaled $1,7670.