HCHC applies to be counselor for affordable care applications

By MEGAN COOPER

Mt. Pleasant News

?The new health care marketplace isn?t as easy as it looks,? said Robb Gardener, CEO of Henry County Health Center, during Tuesday?s Henry County Board of Trustees meeting.

?It launched two weeks ago and people find it very confusing,? Gardener continued. ?The infrastructure on the IT side of things wasn?t as robust as it needed to be. Very few people have actually signed up for the new insurance.?

In order to hopefully help with the transition to the marketplace, Gardener informed the board, ?We submitted an application two weeks ago to become a Certified Application Counselor. The hospital could then help people apply. I think this would be good. We just need to figure out where we will do this here.?

HCHC welcomed a new anesthesia director Todd Rawls. Rawls began work at HCHC about two weeks ago. He is from Mexico, Mo., where he lived for about seven years. ?It has been wonderful working here and this is a wonderful facility. The people are great,? Rawls said.

Jodi Geerts, CNO of HCHC, discussed the new surgical unit at HCHC during her report. She said, ?We want patients and their families to have the best experience possible. But, we do have a lot more square footage, which means we can?t do things the way we used to. Other departments can?t do things the way they used to either because of that.?

The feedback from the public about the new surgical unit is good though. ?Patients and family members are telling us that this unit is fantastic and we want to keep that attitude. We have people that aren?t from here coming here and we want to keep that up,? Geerts finished.

The construction project at HCHC is approaching Phase II. ?Phase II includes the main hallway shift to a new location. We will be putting signs up to direct people around the hospital. I encourage staff to help assist people as you come across them,? Gardener explained to the board.

?As we move to work on the laboratory and registration area, we will be working for about three to four months. After that deadline we will be moving around with no problems,? Gardener added.

Rich Garrels, board member, discussed his inspection results with the board. ?They are working hard on the remodel, but there are a lot of wires everywhere. Just have to pay attention,? he said. ?The hospital is still under construction and people will need to pay attention to the signs and keep their eyes open.?

The HCHC Board of Trustees will meet again Nov. 19, at 12 p.m. in the boardroom.