Trustees support defibrillators for schools

The Washington County Hospital and Clinics Board of Trustees agreed to support defibrillators in schools in Washington County at its regular meeting Thursday.

For roughly a decade the Washington County Hospital has raised money at an annual golf event. Washington County Hospital marketing director Kathleen Brinning said the money raised at the golf events has gone to pay the premiums for children who are on hawk-i, a state program that supplies children with health, dental and vision insurance. Brinning said that the money also goes to purchase equipment at the hospital.

?Over the last few years we?ve bought a lot of equipment for OB (obstetrics) such as new beds and new fetal and maternal heart monitors,? she said.

Brinning said the Washington County Riverboat Foundation has awarded grants to the hospital for its OB department to purchase the equipment it needs.

In the past year, Brinning learned that the schools in the county were interested in purchasing an automatic external defibrillator, which is a device that delivers electrical energy to the heart to treat life-threatening conditions. Brinning said she spoke with Washington schools superintendent Mike Jorgensen about the need for defibrillators in the schools and the two agreed that it would be a good cause for the golf event to support.

In an interview Wednesday, Brinning said, ?It really fits our mission and I think it?s a great way to collaborate with the community. We?re not only going to reach out to Washington schools but we?re going to reach out to the other schools in the county because we are a county hospital.?

Brinning said the defibrillators are expected to cost $1,500 apiece. She said she doesn?t know how many defibrillators the schools in the county will need.

?Once we raise enough money to purchase these, we will turn them over to the schools so they will then be their property,? she said.

Hospital CEO Dennis Hunger gave a report on a conference he and trustee Ron Barnes attended in Nashville, Tenn., from Dec. 1-2. Hunger told the board that he attended seminars on ?governance rules and responsibilities? and ?strategic planning in the post-health reform era.?

Hunger said in an interview Wednesday that hospitals have to adjust to changes in health care laws just as football quarterbacks have to adjust their plays to changes in the defense.

?You?ve got to be able to call an audible if the rules change on you,? he said.

During Thursday?s meeting, Hunger talked to the board about the way in which health care is constantly changing.

?Sometimes we get stuck in a rut such as, ?This is what we did in the ?60s, the ?70s, the ?80s, the ?90s so it?s what we?re going to do in the next four years,?? he said. ?The reality is health care has changed in the past 30 years and it will continue to change. We need to prepare for what those changes will be. In 1980, hospitals focused heavily on the in-patient business. Now the in-patient business is just a piece of what we do. Now we do a lot of outpatient services, too.?

Hunger also talked about the difficulty of supplying mental health services.

?We have done a lot of work in ?telemedicine,?? he said. ?The question is, ?How do you provide the service in all these communities around the state?? The drive time kills you financially, to put a psychiatrist in the car and drive them an hour or two down the road to see people. They can?t make it doing that.?