The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—In his report to the Hospital Board of Commissioners at their regular meeting last week, Columbia County Health System CEO Shane McGuire said a lease has been signed with the Port of Columbia for office space in the Rock Hill Industrial Park. He said the Certified Nursing Program, Palliative Care, and Marketing Services will move into this building.

Dr. Kyle Terry has completed provider training for the CCHS Wound Care Program and will be the Medical Director there. This will allow Dr. Kurt Frauenpreis to focus on assisting the new clinic director.

Dr. Louis Neace, Dr. Terry and Dr. Frauenpreis have all received letters from the Elson Floyd College of Medicine in Spokane apprising them of their status as teaching staff on the faculty. McGuire said the CCHS Strategic Plan calls for a focus on staff recruitment, and having the doctors on the faculty will help with that.

The first tele-psychiatry sessions have been conducted between patients at CCHS and providers at the University of Washington, and that has been going well for inpatients and for outpatients, he said.

“The flu clinic was the most successful campaign CCHS has had, so far,” said McGuire.

Two hundred sixty-five people were immunized, and McGuire said he was happy to see people perform their “civic duty” in protecting the community from a flu outbreak.

McGuire and other members of the Washington Rural Health Access Preservation group will testify before state representatives in Olympia this week about rural health care, and help educate them about the differences of providing care in a rural setting.

He said Stephanie Carpenter, DNS at the Booker Rest Home, and Pat Justice from the Department of Health, will be talking to the Joint Legislative Executive Committee on Aging and Disability about the Palliative Care Program this month in Olympia.

At a recent Greater Columbia Accountable Communities of Health assessment meeting, McGuire learned that CCHS will be receiving an award of $280,000 to support transformation efforts in population health.

He also talked about the need for expanding dental services for Medicaid patients, and he will look into that, he said.

At a special meeting on Nov. 14, the commissioners adopted the budget for 2019. The Gross Operating Revenue is projected at $20,105,579 The Operating Budget is $21,249,616 and the Total Non-Operating Income from tax revenue is $1,790,982.