The Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems Board of Trustees held their monthly meeting last night and discussed progress on the EHR Project, heard a report from the Foundation, and listened to the first administrative report from the new hospital administrator.
The hospital's EHR Program was reported to be 99% finished and going live soon. It is slated to be available to inpatients on July 1 and informational materials for this new electronic system will be available to patients as they check in. Employees will be trained this week on the new system and the hospital will take on the responsibility of enrolling new inpatients as long as they share their email address upon check-in. Outpatients will need to enroll themselves in the new system, but they will also be given information on the system and how to sign up. For patient protection, the website used for the new patient portal is encrypted and certain health markers and personal health information will be kept confidential. A link to the patient portal will be posted on the hospital's website once it is up and running.
The Foundation reported on progress made at the Perdue House and renovations that have been completed or are in the works since the Board's last meeting. Windows have all been replaced, except for a bay window, and that is one of the current projects. All drywall is complete, the upstairs bathrooms are plumbed, painted, and tiled, and the kitchen renovations continue with new cabinetry coming in this week. The next steps in the process are to install wallpaper and paint upstairs along with laying carpet and a committee has been formed to develop policies and procedures for the House.
Along with the report on the Perdue House, the Foundation named winners of the 2014 Melvin File Scholarship and the NCK Tech Continuing Nursing Scholarship. The winners of the Melvin File Scholarship were Tori Farwell, Maci Hancock, Bethany Pingel, Corey True, and Payton Vetter. The NCK Tech Continuing Nursing Scholarship was awarded to Lindsey Hewitt. The scholarship committee is still working through the year to develop more scholarships for non-traditional students and for hospital employees and have more connections with current scholarship recipients with more shadowing.