COVID-19 continues to strain medical resources, whether it’s for people seeking tests or masks or facilities caring for residents.
After the Newman Regional Health Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Bob Wright says test supplies remain low after the hospital began prioritizing its tests, halting back-to-school, back-to-work and back-to-sports tests for the time being.
Test positivity is at 42 percent as announced Wednesday, but Wright says that’s by design to a degree. The hospital is using a phone screening process and residents need to be symptomatic to get tested.
One area where supplies have improved somewhat is blood. Last week, Wright urged residents to donate blood with the regional supply at two days. The supply had dwindled to one day by Monday but has rebounded to a degree. Wright is still asking residents to line up for blood drives that are scheduled areawide, including Feb. 1 at Madison High, Feb. 2-3 at the Emporia State Memorial Union, followed by a drive Feb. 22 at Emporia’s First Church of the Nazarene, March 8 at Emporia High and March 9 at Newman Regional Health.
While staffers are strained, finances did well to close out the year, due to a combination of COVID traffic, typical winter illnesses and people catching up on elective procedures. December’s net income was over $280,000, favorable to budget by almost $600,000. Year-to-date income was over $7.8 million, favorable to budget by around $4.7 million.
