Paynesville Area Health Care System



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PAHCS
200 W First Street
Paynesville, MN 56362

320-243-3767
1-800-242-3767
Fax: 320-243-6707

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HOSPITAL BOARD MEETING
Feb. 28, 2007


The Paynesville Area Hospital District Board of Directors took the following actions at their meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

•The board approved proceeding with a new clinic in Spicer, giving administration the authority to finalize this endeavor. The Paynesville Area Health Care System - the trade name for the hospital district - was approached by the city of Spicer nearly a year ago, wanting PAHCS to pursue a clinic and offering a $200,000 loan at one-percent interest for five years to facilitate the clinic.

CEO Steve Moburg told the board that several concerns about proceeding had been alleviated. First, PAHCS needs an additional physician to staff the new clinic; second, it needs to cash flow; and, third, it needs real community support in Spicer to succeed.

First, a female physician - who had previously signed a contract with PAHCS, only to have difficulty getting her Minnesota license because she attended medical school overseas - now appears to be close to being licensed, said Moburg. She has practiced medicine in South Dakota and currently practices in Iowa, said Moburg, who attributed her difficulty to the thoroughness of Minnesota's process.

In addition to a physician, PAHCS would utilize a mid-level provider (likely a physician's assistant) for evening and weekend hours, director of clinic operations Dorothy Winkelman told the hospital board.

Second, the EDAP loan - plus the estimated target market of 5,000 people in the 56288 zip code - makes Spicer a potentially significant market. Moburg told the board that PAHCS's analysis indicated a clinic would cash flow in Spicer, though the hope is that it would add volume to other services offered by PAHCS as well.

The hospital district has a population of about 12,000 people, noted board chair Don Thomes, so tapping into another market with 5,000 people is a significant addition.

Third, a recent community survey indicated support for the project. Spicer EDAP conducted a telephone survey (of 255 people) in December. Key results include: 67.4 percent indicated being supportive of a clinic in Spicer; 64.5 percent considered utilizing such a clinic; and 56.1 percent considered traveling to Paynesville for follow-up procedures if necessary.

Spicer's proximity to Willmar, being closer to Rice Memorial Hospital than Paynesville, was one board concern about the project. The Chain of Lakes Medical Clinic, in Cold Spring, is roughly halfway between Paynesville and St. Cloud, while Spicer is actually closer to Willmar than Paynesville.

The survey also noted that those Spicer residents who have used PAHCS services were satisfied (90.3 percent). "The bottom line," said Moburg, "is that the community itself is fairly supportive of this."

With over three-quarters of Spicer resident currently traveling to Willmar for health care, the market seems like a good location for a clinic, which would be located in the Green Lake Mall, next to an existing drug store. This is considered to be an ideal location because one of the reasons why people go out of town for clinic appointments is the necessity of going to a pharmacy afterwards. Being next to a pharmacy should be very convenient.

At least four months are needed to finalize arrangements for the clinic, wanting to have it operating for at least a portion of the summer, when Spicer's population grows due to seasonal traffic. "It's important to move fast if we're going to capitalize on that summer trafffic that we hope is there," said Winkelman. The board voted unanimously to move forward with the project.

•The board approved its January financial statements, which indicated a profit of $25,600 for the month. This was below budget, mostly because allowances (discounts to government programs and insurance companies) were significantly higher for the month. Through four months, PAHCS is still above budget for its operations, a four-month profit of $644,400.

•The board reviewed its list of visiting member entitites. District representatives will visit all five townships - Eden Lake, Paynesville, Roseville, Union Grove, and Zion - at the annual meetings on Tuesday, March 13.

For cities, district representatives will visit the city of Roscoe on Wednesday, March 7, at 7 p.m.; the city of St. Martin on Monday, March 12, at 7 p.m. (on agenda at 7:30 p.m.); the city of Eden Valley on Wednesday, March 14, at 7 p.m.; the city of Lake Henry on Monday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m.; the city of Paynesville on Wednesday, March 28, at 6 p.m.; and the city of Richmond on Wednesday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. District representatives will visit the city of Regal in April, too. They will also visit the city of Watkins (not a district member, but the site for the Hilltop Care Center owned by the district) on Thursday, April 12, at 6 p.m.

•The board heard about director of acute care Bev Mueller testifying before a House committee about nursing home funding on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Legislation is being considered that would benefit rates at the Hilltop Care Center in Watkins. (Nursing home rates vary by county, and Stearns County recently received additional reimbursement to metro rates.) Hilltop, on the other hand, Mueller told the legislators, faces the same costs and offers the same services but receives less because it sits 50 yards across the county line in Meeker County.

It will be interesting to see what the legislature does about nursing home reimbursement this year, Mueller told the board, especially after being called to testify by Rep. Larry Hosch (DFL-St. Joseph). Local legislators, in addition to Hosch, do a great job in contacting PAHCS with legislative issues and listening to input, said Moburg.

The board also briefly discussed federal legislation recently introduced by Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota), intended to benefit small and rural medical facilities, including critical-access hospitals, a designation held by the Paynesville Area Hospital.


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