The number of patients being treatment at Ellsworth County Medical Center dropped between March and April.

According to information presented at a rather short May 17 meeting of the hospital board, the number of inpatient days dropped from 82 days in March down to 42 in April. The number of swing bed days also decreased, with 33 in March and 24 in April.

Emergency room visits dropped from 200 in March to 185 in April.

Outpatient visits dropped from 1,127 in March to 941 in April. Similarly, the number of clinic encounters went from 1,333 in March to 1,211 in April.

Board member Stacie Schmidt asked if this was something that is expected each year and she was told the numbers of patient visits tend to slow down a bit from April to June. However, emergency room visits tend to increase during the summer months.

In other business:

• Chief Executive Officer Jim Kirkbride said going forward, the hospital will continue to mask as appropriate.

• Executive Director of Fiscal Operations Charles Lewing said the hospital had a gross revenue for April of $2,249,623 with a net revenue of $1,606,315. Revenue for April from the 340B prescription drug pricing program was $90,969.

• Executive Director of Ancillary and Support Services Danette Heinze said the pulmonary rehab program has gone live with good referral patterns developing.

• Heinze said construction has begun on the hospital’s front feature wall as well as the emergency room bay. She noted the hospital’s environmental services department is now fullystaffed.

• No action was taken after a 15-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel (employment contracts). The next meeting of the Ellsworth County Medical Center board of directors is at 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 21, in the hospital conference room.