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Hospital levy on November ballot |
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September 8, 2016 |
On November 8, local voters will be asked to
decide on a two-year, $828,000 supplemental
Boundary Community Hospital levy. A "yes" vote,
hospital trustees say, will ensure that the
local hospital can maintain its current standard
of patient care while offering the community
faster and better services.
Boundary County Commissioners approved the
ballot measure asking voters to approve a
two-year supplemental levy, as allowed by Idaho
law, to generate an additional $414,000 per year
for hospital purposes for two years. If approved
by a simple majority of voters, initial revenues
would be realized no earlier than December,
2017. Accordingly, any voter-approved budget
resources could first be utilized in the fiscal
year 2017 county budget.
Cost for the levy will be $48 per $100,000 in
real property assessed value each year for two
years after the homeowner exemption is applied.
The hospital is requesting funding for specific
equipment and/or capital improvements; not just
a general fund request. As both residents and
taxpayers, trustees fully appreciate that no one
wants to pay additional taxes, themselves
included. Nonetheless, they recognize and
believe the community has acknowledged that an
up-to-date, well-equipped hospital facility is
essential to the health and welfare of county
residents.
It is vital for the local economy, they agree,
to sustain adequate medical care and to meet
government standards and codes to keep the
hospital and nursing home in compliance, improve
quality of service, address Life-Safety concerns
and ensure that Boundary Community Hospital
offers high quality, state-of-the-art care by
providing the equipment and facilities for
specialists to offer local clinics and
surgeries, and to reduce turnaround time for
test results to physicians for faster, more
accurate diagnoses.
"Technology has changed in the past 10 years and
we need to keep up," trustees posted on the
hospital website. "Newer equipment offers
results that take less time, are more accurate
and, in some cases, less expensive allowing your
healthcare team to make better decisions for
your care and treatment.
"The Boundary County population (50% of which is
over 45 according to the 2015 census) supports
local health care and emergency care. As an
older demographic moves into Boundary County,
the more local options available to the
community, the better community support will be
for local businesses and the Hospital."
The Hospital Board of Trustees is requesting
$828,000 over two years to be spent as follows,
if approved:
* $100,000 Main Fire Alarm Panel Replacement. This is a
Life Safety requirement for the hospital and
will be used to replace the vintage 1992 fire
panel that is currently experiencing electrical
issues. Parts are not readily available or no
longer manufactured.
* $250,000 Climate Control System Upgrades for the Hospital and
Nursing Home Building. The hospital
would like to upgrade the outdated heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
equipment by installing a Building Management
Control System. This system will meet
environmental requirements for the hospital
while increasing patient comfort throughout the
hospital and nursing home. Better controls and
efficiencies should result in energy cost
savings. In addition, Infection Control
Filtering and Humidity Controls for the surgical
suite would ensure more precise temperature and
humidity control to meet government code
compliance standards. An improved surgical suite
could result in more specialists coming to
Boundary County to perform surgeries.
* $202,000 Surgical Equipment. For general surgery, the
hospital would like to replace the endoscopy
scopes and instruments with state-of-the-art
equipment. These new scopes would be easier to
clean for infection control and have better
imaging when you need a colonoscopy, endoscopy
or gastroscopy. Also, warranty and service would
reduce costs for repairs. Orthopedic surgery
equipment includes a new arthroscopic instrument
set and a shoulder traction device. With this
equipment, Boundary County residents needing
knee or shoulder surgery could get their
procedures done here with latest technology and
follow up physical therapy could be done through
hospital outpatient rehabilitation.
* $126,000 Radiology Equipment. The C-Arm Portable X-Ray
equipment moves around the patient and can be
used by the emergency department as well as for
orthopedic surgeries. Reduced radiation dose and
increased patient safety while obtaining better
quality images are reasons to replace the
existing equipment. In June 2016, a new 64-slice
Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner was
installed at Boundary Community Hospital. In
order to expand testing options, they will need
to purchase a new CT Injector for simultaneous
injection of saline solutions to reduce the
amount of intravenous contrast used for routine
studies. In addition to using it for CT
angiography and detailed abdominal studies, they
would be able to do small vessel imaging.
* $150,000 Laboratory Equipment. New technology will
allow faster analysis, in some cases hours vs.
days faster, and obtain more accurate results
with increased reliability while reducing tech
time to set up tests. It will enable maintaining
laboratory compliance with National Clinical and
Laboratory Standards Institute performance
standards. Blood testing equipment to be
purchased includes Hematology Analyzer with Five
Part Auto Diff feature and automated
Sedimentation Rate Analyzer that detects
nonspecific inflammation in the body, which is a
common test for arthritis and infection.
Equipment for bacteria and virus testing
includes a Microscan and Film Array with
Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Panels. This
equipment tests for 20 respiratory viruses and
bacteria plus 22 common gastrointestinal
pathogens that cause infectious diarrhea.
Results are available within hours instead of
days. As an essential part of the Anti-Microbial
Stewardship program, this type of advanced virus
testing will help avoid over-prescription of
antibiotics. |
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