HCHC puts the brakes on Park Place roof replacement

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

The residents of Henry County Health Center?s (HCHC) Park Place will not be hearing the sounds of contractors working on the building?s roof this fall or winter as HCHC?s Board of Trustees were forced to pause the project until next year.

Despite calling it a minor setback in HCHC?s plans for 2016, HCHC CEO Robb Gardner admitted that with all the reconstruction the health center has in the works with its parking lots at the moment, having to push the start date back on the Park Place roof replacement may be a blessing in disguise.

?Last month, we received a bid from Robison Construction, of Cedar Rapids, for this project and approved the bid with the contingency that Robison provide a performance and payment bond to us. Unfortunately, those items were not given to us as we had hoped, and therefore we cannot move ahead with the project at this time due to Iowa Code laws,? Gardner told the board during their monthly meeting on Tuesday.

At the time of accepting bids for the project, Robison?s $93,390.80 bid was the only bid HCHC received for the roof replacement.

?We did have a local contractor come out and take a look at the roof to ensure the safety and quality of the roof at this time,? Gardner continued. ?We did identify two minor issues with the current roof and those have already been repaired. So, the roof should be safe and functional this winter for our residents and staff, which is our top priority.?

According to Gardner, the roof replacement project will be put on hold until the spring, at which time the board of trustees will review the project once more.

Moving on to other matters, the board had three internal positions to approve including a vacancy for a compliance officer, security officer and privacy officer. In regards to the compliance officer position, which was formerly held by former HCHC employee, Travis Johnson, the board approved HCHC COO Michelle Rosell to fill that position in addition to her current duties as COO.

As to the security officer and privacy officer, the board did approve two HCHC employees to fill those roles. Patrick Waters, HCHC Information Technology Director, was approved to fulfill the role of privacy officer. HCHC employee Jonathan Hills was also approved as HCHC?s security officer.

Under new business, the board was happy to review a recent patient satisfaction survey for the health center. Overall, the surveys churned out positive reviews and showed evidence of the health center improving in a few areas that Gardner says the medical staff have been pushing for over the last several months.

?Right now, we are seeing goals being met with regards to some patient satisfaction areas,? said Gardner. ?As the end of the year is not quite here yet, we hope to see these positive trends continuing as we finish out the year.?

Among the areas that Gardner pointed out as scoring high were patient communication with HCHC?s medical providers, accuracy and timeliness with patient discharge information, and patient communication with HCHC?s nurses.

Scores within the survey that are starting to see positive growth include growing scores for dietary and nutritional service satisfaction, patient satisfaction for care received during emergency room visits, and an increasing score for care satisfaction for outpatient procedures.

Finally, before moving into closed session to discuss patient care quality, the board reviewed two reports including the quarterly Iowa Hospital Association Dashboard and the Market Share performance report.

The HCHC Board of Trustees will meet again in regular session on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at noon, in the HCHC Board Room.