Hospital auxiliary donates items for new facility

Sara Rhum

Ledger Lifestyles editor

The Jefferson County Hospital Board of Trustees met Monday evening to discuss donations provided by the Jefferson County Hospital Auxiliary and the revised county budget.

Chief executive officer and hospital administrator Deb Cardin reported the auxiliary has committed to spend $143,000 this year on projects for the new hospital: $10,000 for the medallion at the entryway; $93,000 for the Voicera hands-free phones for nurses; and $40,000 for cardiac rehabilitation?s heart-monitoring system.

In other donations, the Jefferson County Hospital Foundation Pink Gala was attended by 118 people, and ticket sales exceeded that amount. The net profit from the event will be determined at a later time.

Chief financial officer Gene Irwin presented the revised county hospital budget. A 27 cents per $1,000 of property valuation will be levied for general maintenance, and the same amount will be levied for ambulance operations. According to Irwin, the levy increase is due to the rise of property valuation more than a rise in tax portions collected. The final tax levy will be $1.99849 for every $1,000 valuation.

Tort liability has gone up from $84,500 to $293,000; it is reflective of increases in insurance costs, especially in health insurance.

The board approved the budget.

For the complete article, see the Tuesday, February 24, 2009, Fairfield Ledger.