The Haxtun Health Board of Directors is down to four. Pastor Jeri Soens resigned from the board earlier this month, leaving the board of directors down a member. The news comes following a discussion a month earlier regarding the possibility of increasing the board’s membership from five to seven due to an increase in interest from the community.

The April 24 meeting opened with an invocation from Chief Community Relations Officer Julia Biesemeier and approval of the agenda. At the start, during open forum, board members heard from community member Wayne Thompson. Thompson addressed the Board about recent care he received at Haxtun Health. Thompson expressed his concerns in what he said was unnecessary care and tests during the visit and requested a discount on his medical services bill.

Dewane Pace, Chief Executive Officer, and Board Chair Kent Bamford addressed Thompson and his concerns. Bamford said that while the open forum portion of the board of directors meeting wouldn’t be the forum for which a decision could be made regarding Thompson’s bill, he would request that the correct department be in contact with him.

After hearing from Thompson, Bamford made the announcement that Soens resigned from the Board. He asked that the Board take steps to honor Soens for her years of service to Haxtun Health.

Later, in new business, board members discussed a draft resolution to increase the number of board seats from five to seven, a topic that was discussed a month prior. After some discussion, it was decided to table the resolution and revisit the issue in another year.

Later, in his report to the Board, Pace gave an update on House Bill 23-1215. Last month, Pace told board members that HB 23-1215 could have catastrophic consequences if passed. The bill, submitted by Colorado Representative Emily Sirota, Democrat, Denver, would eliminate a hospital’s ability to bill for facility fees.

“The Facility Fees Bill that has been proposed here in Colorado remains a serious threat to all hospitals in our State,” he said. “However, thanks to the efforts of hospital CEOs traveling to Denver to speak with legislators and the combined efforts of the Eastern Plains Healthcare Consortium, the Colorado Hospital Association and the Western Health Care Alliance, many of the harmful language has been resolved.”

Pace said the bill is now scheduled for appropriations committee where negotiations continue to remove prohibitions for primary care, preventative services and telehealth. Critical Access Hospitals such as Haxtun Health have bene exempted from the bill, but it would still take away 20 percent of our revenue by decreasing the Medicaid expansion funds called the CHASE fee and potentially risk survival of Haxtun Health.

“Stay tuned,” Pace to the Board as he and others continue to lobby in hops of the bills possible defeat.

The CEO also gave information on recent staff certifications including wound care nurses and three who took a management course through Texas A&M.

Pace said employees KrisAnna Teel and Jennifer Bott recently traveled to Florida for an intense, onsite course for wound care. The two put in 12 to 14 hour days of studying and before leaving took the certification exam. Both passed the exam and are now certified wound care nurses.

“We have launched wound care as a service line to meet the needs of our community and it is going very well,” said Pace. “We have plans to expand this service over the next year and now we can do that because we have the only certified wound care nurses from Fort Morgan to the state line.”

Pace also acknowledged Lea White, Andrew Gonzales and Rebecca Bair, all who took part in a 10-week course on the Fundamentals of Hospital Management as part of Haxtun Health’s partnership with the Center for Optimizing Rural Health at Texas A&M. He said all three completed necessary coursework and graduated this month.

“This is in line with our strategic plan and goal of leadership development,” he said.

Additionally, Pace announced project Open Door, which will help install automatic doors leading into the specialty clinic. The Specialty Clinic has been converted from the former OB unit in the hospital.

“We needed automatic doors, but the cost was prohibitive,” said Pace.

However, Pace said thanks to the efforts of a determined community member, funds were raised, a design and plan were competed and this week, the project should be complete. “Haxtun is an amazing community,” he added.

In other business:

• Chief Nursing Officer Lea White said the hospital is sponsoring a DAWN method of training through the Phillips County Extension Office. DAWN stands for Dementia and Alzheimer’s Wellbeing Network and with the sponsorships, Haxtun Health gets two seats in the class. Employee Amanda Mavis and Kenzie Fleharty started the eight-week training in early April and will bring back the information to others to help provide care to patients with dementia.

• The Directors of Ancillary Services said that through the 2022-23 school year, Haxtun Health hosted 10 pharmacy students and provided over 3,120 hours of real-world experience to the next generation of pharmacist. Of the 10, Haxtun Health hired Ellen Bernhard, a Haxtun resident, to join the team. She graduates in May 2023 and will be a full-time pharmacists as soon as she completes and passes her licensing exams.