Hospital creating community health plan; top health issues to be addressed

The Regional Medical Center will develop a Community Health Improvement Plan to address health care challenges in Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties.

A hospital steering committee will be formed to help develop the plan based on the Community Health Needs Assessment already completed.

The Community Health Needs Assessment was the result of a collaboration between RMC and its affiliate, the Tri-County Healthcare Network. The network promotes healthy lifestyles, addresses health care disparities and works to improve access to health care.

The 100-page Community Health Needs Assessment was developed with information from focus groups, online surveys and more.

The assessment’s findings revealed that the area’s top health concerns are access to affordable health care, obesity, access to healthy foods, access to information on healthy eating and better personal health care.

Lung cancer and increased vaping were also cited as concerns.

RMC Director of Grants and Tri-County Health Network Stephanie Harrison said the aging population also expressed concerns about breast cancer.

The RMC board of trustees recently gave unanimous approval to the Community Health Needs Assessment and gave the go-ahead to proceed with the development of the Community Health Improvement Plan.

Harrison informed trustees that the Community Health Needs Assessment is mandatory under the Affordable Care Act and the Internal Revenue Service. A Community Health Needs Assessment must be done every three years.

Since the 2019 Community Health Improvement Plan, the hospital has implemented a number of healthy food and exercise activities such as “Walk with the Doc.”

Harrison said the hospital has also been able to expand its funding sources to do more things to impact the community.

The Community Health Improvement Plan needs to be developed and approved by May 15, 2023, Harrison said.

The Community Health Needs Assessment will be disseminated to the public via the hospital’s website and through publications.

In other matters:

• RMC Finance Committee Chairman Steve Tyson said efforts have been implemented to improve the hospital’s revenue cycle, with one of these measures being to enter into an agreement with Maxim Healthcare Services to add six certified medical coders to the hospital’s staff.

“A lot of attention has been paid to that (revenue cycle),” Tyson said.

Tyson said meetings have also been held with hospital administration and its revenue cycle team to improve accounts receivables.

“We may be seeing some signs of those improvements coming in,” Tyson said. “It is probably too early to tell, but it looks like collections have been better over the last week, ten days.”

Trustees unanimously approved a contract with FTI in hopes the firm will help it collect on its accounts receivables, particularly accounts receivables over 91 days old.

Tyson did note the hospital met payroll for October and that “bills have been paid.”

• Strategic Planning Chair Jeannine Kees said the planning committee has expanded the request for proposal field for the development of a Santee medical clinic in an effort to attract a larger pool of bidders. The initial RPF attracted about two companies.

The issue will be brought back for the next board meeting in January.

“We are short on the funding for that project,” Kees said, noting the hospital will look for additional grants to make the project happen. She said the hospital will also work with Orangeburg County Council on the matter.

Kees said the committee has continued to look at hospital service lines to determine which ones are profitable and said the committee has requested a copy of the hospital’s strategic plan to better understand how to proceed.

• The hospital’s primary stroke recertification program has received approval from the Joint Commission. The program received recertification for demonstrating compliance with national, evidence-based standards for stroke care.

The Joint Commission accredits more than 22,000 U.S. health care organizations and programs across the United States.

• Trustees were informed there were medical staff appointments in the hospital’s department of surgery, teleradiology and telepsychiatry departments and a trainee in the hospital’s vascular access program.
• Board members were informed of a board governance training series. Upon completion of the series, trustees will be awarded the 2022-2023 advanced trustee education certificate.
• Trustees unanimously approved the hospital’s new bylaws.

The most significant changes are the reduction of the board from 17 to 11 members and the elimination of redundant committees.

• Trustees entered into closed session to discuss employment matters.
• The next RMC Board of Trustees regularly monthly meeting is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27 at the Medical Arts Center at 1175 Cook Road, Suite 325 in Orangeburg.