Blog - News

HCMH is celebrating its 40th anniversary of providing quality care, close to home.  

With the many changes that have been made to the hospital in the last year, we will be having an Open House to showcase the improvements.   Please watch for details as they become available.

Pam Ray is retiring after 25 years of employment with HCHM.  As with many rural hospital nursing executives, she has worn many hats during her time here.   She has worked in Surgery, as Director of Nursing and most recently in the area of Quality and Compliance. 

 Her expertise will be missed at HCMH and we wish her many years of happy retirement.

Iowa Hospital Community Benefit Exceeds $1.2 Billion

A statewide survey by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) shows Iowa hospitals provided community benefits in 2009 valued at more than $1.2 billion.

Community benefits are activities designed to improve health status and provide greater access to health care.  Along with uncompensated care (which is made up of both charity care and bad debt), community benefits include such services and programs as health screenings, support groups, counseling, immunizations, nutritional services and transportation programs.  The total value of these services, as reported in the survey, was nearly $147 million. 

All 118 of Iowa’s community hospitals participated in the survey.

The programs and services accounted for in the survey were implemented in direct response to the needs of individual communities as well as entire counties and regions.  Many of these programs and services simply would not exist without hospital support and leadership, said IHA President Kirk Norris.

But the ability of Iowa hospitals to respond to such needs is being hindered by the ongoing economic downturn as well as by huge losses inflicted upon hospitals by Medicare and Medicaid.

Total uncompensated care in 2009, including charity care and bad debt, was valued at more than $796.4 million, an increase of $85.9 million (15.8 percent) over 2008.

Meanwhile, Medicare and Medicaid, which represent about 60 percent of all hospital revenue in Iowa, created approximately $310 million in losses for the state’s hospitals during 2009.

Federal health care reform legislation passed earlier this year moved Medicare several steps toward a payment system that recognizes and rewards high-quality, low-cost providers like Iowa hospitals.  Studies have shown that as much as 30 percent of health care is wasted by either being duplicative or ineffective and that some states, including Iowa, do a much better job of providing efficient care.  Reducing that waste would save billions of dollars, which could be directed toward providing coverage for the uninsured.

“Mechanisms are now in place to better ensure fair treatment from Medicare for high-value health care providers like Iowa hospitals,” Norris said.  “We are also buoyed by the appointment of Donald Berwick to administer the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  Dr. Berwick has an unparalleled reputation for leading and inspiring changes that increase health care value.”

The Iowa Hospital Association is a voluntary membership organization representing hospital and health system interests to business, government and consumer audiences.  All 118 community hospitals in Iowa, with more than 74,000 employees and a $6.1 billion impact on the state’s economy, are IHA members.

Hello - My name is Gary Moritz and I am very excited to be part of Humboldt County Memorial Hospital.  Having served 10 years on the Board of Trustees, I already know how valuable HCMH is to the residents of the county and surrounding areas.  I will now be able to work with the employees that truly make HCMH a valuable asset to the area.  I am looking forward to contributing to HCMH success.

Being hired to be the Director of Community Development I will be involved with the HCMH Foundation, providing community and media relationships along with developing market strategy. Service Excellence will become a top priority while also working on educational outreach and when needed, Physician recruitment.

I believe the future is bright in Humboldt County and Humboldt County Memorial Hospital is a major beam of light in the County.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and being involved in the operations of HCMH.

Enthusiasm is contagious, let’s start an epidemic!

Gary

HCMH Pharmacy recently moved to a newly remodeled location.  Designed to improve workflow and to allow for improved drug storage and enhanced safety, the new Pharmacy features better lighting and  shelving which improves organization.  The use of new storage solutions, labeling and color coding  has enhanced safety and efficiency in the Pharmacy.  In addtion to the main Pharmacy work area, a new area has been added for the compounding of sterile IV solutions.

The Humboldt Co Mem Hospital Ambulance service purchased a new vehicle which was put into service in May 2010.  

The HCMH ambulance service recently completed its annual state inspection and received a zero deficiency report.   Our service is one of two that received such a high rating in Region 2 which included 102 ambulance services. 

Congrats to Mike Sexe and his crew for their excellent work!

The service is looking forward to a new ambulance due for delivery this spring.   The EMS crew responses to approximately 600 calls for assistance each year with 2 ambulances being staffed 24/7.

Erin Hamilton was awarded the Employee of the Year recognition at the recent employee awards banquet.  Erin began as a switchboard operator and recently moved into the position of the Outpatient Specialty Clinic receptionist.  She works closely with the visiting specialty docs and their staff.  She also assists with the emergercy room in any way she can as well as other projects.

Other nonimnees for employee of the year were Karen Smith, Kenny Vorland, Allison North and Rose Baker.

The Maintenance Department was awarded Department of the Year.   They are to be commended for all the work they've done with our recent construction projects.   The staff has also had their hands full with our unusually harsh winter

People who have the flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

         A fever or feeling feverish/chills

         Cough

         Sore Throat

         Runny or stuffy nose                                     

         Muscle or body aches

         Headaches

         Fatigue (feeling very tired)

Some people may also throw up or have diarrhea (loose stools)

People with flu-like symptoms should stay at home except to get medical care or other necessities until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever without taking any medicine that lowers fever.  Examples of these kinds of medicine include acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) and ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin)

Watch for signs of dehydration with the flu.  It is especially important for infants, toddlers and pregnant women to be sure they are getting enough fluids.

When it comes to protecting the health of yourself and your family, friends and others, you play an important role.  Containing germs by staying home when you're ill is important because it helps stop the spread of viruses and germs to other people.  Right now, to protect our patients in the hospital and the residents of Long Term Care, we are restricting school age visitors.  No one under the age of 18 will be allowed to visit but exceptions will be made in cases involving people who want to visit patients who are critcially ill. 

Working together, we can FIGHT THE FLU

As the 2009 H1N1 and seasonal influenza seasons progress this fall and winter, you may see more individuals, especially health care workers, wearing protective masks.

Although seeing a health care worker wearing a mask can be startling, it should actually provide you with a level of comfort.  It's a sign your health care providers are protecting themselves from the flu and in turn protecting their patients. 

Masks help decrease the spread of influenza in health care settings and you may be asked to wear one if you are coughing and sneezing.

The HCMH Radiology and Laboratory Departments were ranked in the top 2% in a recent patient satisfactory survey comparing all hospitals nationally. We are very proud of the achievement by these 2 departments

New providers have joined the medical staff at the Humboldt Trimark Clinic.

   Jason Krist, ARNP                                        Dr. Theo Barley

Jason Krist, ARNP began seeing patients in May 2009.  Dr. Theo Barley joined the Medical Staff in August 2009.

The HCMH 40th Anniversary cookbook is now available.   Books are available from the auxiliary snackbar or during the noon cafeteria lunch line.   Price is $15

Humboldt County Memorial Hospital recently installed a new Walk-Away MicroScan system in the Laboratory.  This highly automated system is used to identify bacteria that causes disease and determines which antibiotics would be effective in treating the infections.  Because bacteria are evolving and becoming increasingly more resistant to antibiotics, HCMH laboratory is dedicated to keeping up with the latest technology to provide our patients with fast and accurate results for these critical samples.