At the Dec. 22 meeting of the Ellsworth County Medical Center board of directors, ECMC CEO Jim Kirkbride said the hospital is seeing the “trifecta” of COVID, flu and RSV among patients coming to the emergency room, the rural health clinics and those being admitted to the hospital.  
Kirkbride said as of Dec. 22, anyone coming into the hospital needs to wear a mask.
According to ECMC’s website, the hospital is currently on visitor restriction, allowing only two visitors at a time per patient. Visitors will be screened upon each entrance. Patients positive for COVID-19 or suspected of COVID-19 will be placed on full visitor restriction.

In other business:
• Kirkbride said Rob Koch of Holyrood has agreed to represent Holyrood on the hospital board. That seat has been vacant since Karen Pauley resigned several months ago. Kirkbride will present Koch to the county commissioners for approval.
“I think he will be a great asset to the board,” Kirkbride said.  
Koch is expected to take his seat on the board in January.
• Approval was given to the hospital’s 2021-22 audit as presented.  
• Charles Lewing, executive director of business operations, said increased in-patient volumes for November increased the hospital’s gross revenue.  
He said ECMC achieved more than $2.27 million in gross revenue in November. Net revenue was $1.51 million, just slightly unfavorable to the budgeted amount of $1.58 million.
Operating expenses increased by $177,259.
• Executive Director of Ancillary and Support Services Danette Heinze said the renovation of the hospital’s administration building has come to an end, with the windows, front door and flooring all replaced.
Heinze said the hospital’s health information management workspace is in the process of changing into a training and education center.   
Heinze said installation of the INAlert badge entry project is wrapping up this week. Heinze and IT Manager Trish Mermis have completed the staff access points, allowing staff access only to what they need to perform their duties.  
Heinze said the hospital and emergency responders came together to discuss system-wide integration, access points for responders and options for process implementation. The Ellsworth Police Department and the Ellsworth County Sheriff’s Office now have access to the hospital’s facilities and cameras.
• Heinze said the emergency room bay project is moving forward. A land survey has been completed and the architect has sent the final drawings. She is waiting on the construction company to get the last concrete bid for the drainage system, since there are many different elevations by the emergency room entrance, parking and driveway.
• Mammography will soon be offered in-house at ECMC. Construction will begin Jan. 9 and will take three weeks to complete. The new Fuji machine and system will then be installed and the required quality checks will begin so the system can be certified.
Radiology team members Shelby Wulf and Debra Burton will attend classes to become board-registered in mammography.  
• Pulmonary rehabilitation services are also being brought to ECMC as cardiac rehabilitation nurse Heather Kepka plans to intertwine pulmonary rehab with cardiac rehabilitation services. Pulmonary rehab works with patients to reduce the risk of future pulmonary events and maintain their day-to-day life. Exercising the lungs and muscles helps patients to be more active and continue doing what they love.  
The program will provide breathing and relaxation techniques, maximize energy levels, education on oxygen dosing and disease processes. Those diagnoses that can benefit from pulmonary rehab are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, COVID infection, lung transplant and pulmonary hypertension. The program will go live by February.
The next meeting of the Ellsworth County Medical Center board of directors will be Wednesday, Jan. 18, in the hospital conference room.