Annual meeting well attended

One hundred four members signed in at Dahl Memorial Healthcare Association's annual meeting last Thursday night at Carter County Events Center. Around 60 attended last year and about 75 turned out in 2019.

Steve McNeece, President and CEO at Community hospital of Anaconda, and Laura Austin from CAH Solutions Group called into the meeting from Superior. They gave a brief overview and explanation of the association's 2021-2022 operating plan. The operating plan was broken into four categories: patient/resident safety and quality of clinical outcomes; relations between employees, providers and the board of directors; community health; and fiscal health of the association. Copies of the outline of the plan were available at the meeting.

No old business was discussed.

CEO Ryan Tooke reported on the status of the new Carter County Healthcare Facility. He stated that the step-by-step process is ongoing. The Certificate of Occupancy has been received and the CT scanner was delivered last week. The scanner will take about ten days to install. They are still awaiting a fire life safety inspection on the building.

The computer system that the association is using is relatively new, Tooke said. Most of the bugs have been worked out but they are still working on a few.

The complete move will take time as both staff and patients will go through an orientation process. Tooke did say, though, that current residents at Dahl Memorial have had a chance to go over to the new facility and pick out their new rooms.

The pharmacy at the new facility will have a pneumatic system so that customers can pick up their prescriptions without having to enter the building in the case of another shutdown. There will also be a traveling museum display in the facility that Carter County Museum will periodically change out.

The segregation of duties between a CEO and a CFO was discussed.

Several employees were recognized for their years of service at the annual meeting. Carla Dowdy, Sue Schneider and Libby Barth were all recognized for five years of service. Judy Wright and Wayne Yost were recognized for working for 15 years as EMTs. More than thirteen new employees have started at Dahl within the last year. There are usually between 65-70 employees at Dahl Memorial that make up an equivalent of around 39 full-time workers.

FNP Alex Lovec gave a presentation at the meeting on health prevention and wellness in the community, stressing the importance of annual exams.

Tooke also spoke briefly about the endowment fund and complemented the community for their support. To date, the fund totals $252,000. The interest collected will be used for capital projects or to enhance the life of Dahl residents in some manner. The new facility will feature a giving tree that shows donations to the fund in the form of leaves.

Employees who helped make the annual meeting a success were thanked, as were all of the association members in attendance.

There were one hundred fifty-four votes counted in the association's election as some members had proxy votes for others who did not attend. Three board members were elected at the annual meeting. Incumbents Troy Fruit, Georgia Bruski and Jitt Schneider were all re-elected to the board of directors.