Newman Regional Health is adapting its approach towards nurse recruitment.
During the hospital’s Board of Trustees monthly meeting Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Bob Wright said the goal is to reduce the hospital’s expensive reliance on contract labor.
Wright says the hospital’s initiative could mean a savings of around $3.4 million if that works as expected. The overall process will repeat as the hiring goal is met.
Financially, March was a rough month as the hospital continues to pay contract employees while the patient census was below projections. The hospital had a net loss of over $900,000, unfavorable to budget by over $1.5 million. The year-to-date loss is now almost $1.3 million, unfavorable to budget by over $950,000.
Recruitment is also picking up as the hospital looks to fill several physician jobs. Wright says an internal medicine doctor will start next year. The hospital is also recruiting an orthopedic physician and a doctor for Newman Regional Health Family Medicine. General surgeon Dr. Rebecca Douglass came on board earlier this month.
Lyon County commissioners Rollie Martin and Doug Peck sat in on the meeting Wednesday. In years past, the county has helped to fund several large-scale improvements at the hospital. Martin says county support may have to take other methods, given its own budget pressures with employee recruitment and retention. Having said that, he says the county will do what it can to support Newman Regional Health.
In other business from Wednesday, the board approved nearly $200,000 in capital outlay to replace part of a roof. That had originally been listed as a renovation but now needs a full replacement.
