An announcement regarding two members of the Ellsworth County Medical Center board of directors was made June 19, following an executive session to discuss data related to business, trade secrets or legal affiars (board member reappointments, recruiting).

Board Member Stacie Schmidt agreed to commit to another term, while Jennifer Nemnich will not be extending her term on the board. Board members will present potential replacements at the July 17 meeting.

In other business:

• ECMC Chief Executive Officer Jim Kirkbride said as far as seasonal illnesses go (COVID, flu, etc.), the hospital is seeing nothing unusual, just the normal for the season. He said pneumonia is probably at the top of the list, causing complications in those with other illnesses such as diabetes.

He said no dates have been established yet for public forums regarding the possibility of starting a surgery program at ECMC.

• Two capital requests, one for an EKG for respiratory therapy at a cost of $25,483.99, and the second for a remote terminal unit for the physical plant at a cost of $20,633.82, were approved.

• Gross revenue for May was $3,110,635, which Kirkbride said is all all-time high in revenue. Operating expenses for the month were $2,034,172. So far for the year, the hospital stands at $42,000plus in the black. Kirkbride noted last year at this time, the hospital was in the red.

• Inpatient days for May were down from the month before with 42 days in May compared to 58 in April.

Swing bed days were also down in May compared to the month before with 50 days in May compared to 78 in April.

Observation admissions were also down slightly in May with 17 admissions compared to 23 in April.

Emergency room visits were also down slightly in May with 220 visits compared to 226 in April.

Both outpatient visits and clinic encounters climbed during the month of May with 1,220 outpatient visits in May compared to 1,357 in April and 1,227 clinic encounters in May compared to 1,195 in April.

• No action was taken after an executive session to discuss data related to business, trade secrets or legal affairs (the 2025 budget), but the board did agree to delay the presentation of the 2025 budget until the July meeting.

• An executive session to discuss nonelected personnel (CEO evaluation) was also conducted. According to Kirkbride, the board reviewed the performance scores submitted by the group of evaluators and those results will be discussed and finalized with him by the board chairman in the next week or so.

Kirkbride said his contract as CEO has an automatic renewal, so he has entered another year under the current contract terms.

• It was noted that the nursing department has the highest rate of turnover (33.3 percent) at ECMC, followed by the housekeeping department (13.9 percent) and the laboratory department (11.1 percent).

The next meeting of the Ellsworth County Medical Center board of directors will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, in the hospital conference room.