WCHC BOT approves slew of upgrades

WASHINGTON - Washington County Hospital and Clinics will be seeing upgrades as the board of trustees approved four expenditure requests at their most recent meeting.

Brian Bockting, Director of Laboratory and Rehabilitation Services, made a request for a new molecular testing platform, that he described as 'a mini DNA lab.” The device will help the hospital receive test results much faster than if they have to be sent to the lab.

Bockting said for example, results from a strep throat test takes anywhere from 24-48 hours to be received. With this new device, the hospital could get the results within an hour. This will help the hospital get the information to the patient much faster and in turn start their treatment sooner.

The new device can be utilized by existing staff, he said, and a power line was installed last year in preparation for the device. Bockting said he expects the device will have about 148 uses per month and the hospital will see a return on the investment in 14 months. He recommended a quote of $64,905, nearly $23,000 under budget.

The pharmacy at WCHC will be receiving upgrades as well. Jim VanWinkle, Director of Pharmacy Services, said the current medication dispensing units are from 2005. The cabinets are on a software system that's life support will expire in 2020 and the server for the system has already expired.

VanWinkle asked the board to approve a quote of $246,395.55. for Omnicell dispensing cabinets. The cabinets came in under budget by nearly $100,000 as $340,000 was originally budgeted.

Above the pharmacy, a supply blower will be replaced. Eric Schoonover, Maintenance Manager, said while doing routine maintenance on the blower, which also services the ER and other areas of the hospital, they found the motor was going bad.

Schoonover said the team decided to move forward with gathering quotes for a new blower because repairing the existing one would mean it would be out of commission for two days. Instead, he recommended the board approve a quote of $7,725 from AAA Mechanical Contractors, of Coralville. Once the new blower is installed, the existing will be repaired and used as a back up.

The McCreedy Home also will be seeing improvements. Schoonover told the board the privacy fence in the courtyard was installed in 2007 and in need of replacement. He recommended the board accept a quote from Yoder Vinyl Fencing, in Kalona, for $12,510.32. The quote came in under the $15,000 budget.

The board approved all four quotes.