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The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors held their meeting Thursday night in the hospital library. Chief of Staff Dr. Punzalan presented a change to the medical staff bylaws for the medical staff membership, which was approved by the Board. Dr. Punzalan then presented the 2009 physician reappointments for active and courtesy staff privileges that will take effect on February 1st. Comptroller Stephanie Wofford then presented the summary of operations and statistics for December 2008 where there was an excess of revenues over expenses of $18,945 for the month of December. Administrator Dennis Pryor did state the hospital is looking at and working on ways to tighten their belts such as turning lights off when not in use, as well as other ways to cut costs.  Pryor did say that there are no talks about lay-offs. The hospital calendar included several wellness screenings and fundraisers for 2009. In the inpatient and ER patient satisfaction results for the 4^th quarter of 2008, there were 2400 ER visits during the quarter and of those who responded, 99% gave a 95 to 100% satisfaction rating. Of the 150 in-patient admissions for the same time frame, 20 responses were received with a 100% satisfaction rating. Director of Nursing Carol Lacy gave the nursing, ancillary service and call light reports. For the month of December, there were 793 ER visits, 19 surgeries, 336 home health visits, 6,456 lab tests, 1,051 radiology procedures, 324 CT scans, 23 MRI scans, 3 nuclear med scans, 1,616 cardiopulmonary procedures, 344 rehab treatments, 172 dialysis treatments, and 339 clinical visits. Pryor stated that in a couple of months, the hospital is looking to go to six days a week for dialysis treatments.  In old business, Pryor gave the update on the physician office building #3 and stated that there was $931,500 budgeted and the project-to-date expenditures totaled $1,259,112. There will be no election required for the hospital board of directors, as incumbent Sheila Kunkel was the only one who filed. Kunkel will be sworn in after the election at the April Board meeting. In new business, Joe Camden and Donna Frizzell came by to ask the Board to consider an entrance and parking lot area on the backside of the Long Term Care facility. It would mean better access for the patients as well as for their family and friends. Marsha from the SMDH Home Health Agency came in to let the Board know that Home Care Elite announced in October 2008, that Salem Hospital Home Health Agency was ranked nationally among the top 100 home health agencies. Salem was ranked #2 out of the top 3 in the State of Missouri. The Board then approved the conflict of interest policy and safe deposit access authorization list of names. Pryor stated that the state minimum wage went to $7.05 on January 1st, and that eight part-time and full time employees were affected and the difference would be from $200 to $500 through June 30th. The federal rate is set to go to $7.25 as of July 1st. The hospital currently has 27-28 salaried employees and 170 non-salaried employees. The finance committee meeting has been set for Thursday, February 12th at 5:00 pm. The Board approved the purchase of the budgeted items including a fax machine for the Pharmacy from CDWG for $128, and a printer for Acute Care from ABS for $215. The non-budgeted items approved for purchase included a fax machine for administration from Global for $109, a wheelchair for Long Term Care from Owens-Minor for $293, one anti-fatigue & grease proof mat for Dietary from Central Restaurant for $548, one secure exchange software for Home Health from Vision Share for $799, PC Connection upgrade for administration from PC Connection for $279, and three printers for $262 from CDWG for Home Health, ER and Dietary. The Board then went into closed session.

An accident happened at 8:00 Friday morning in Iron County on Highway 32 about three miles west of Route DD. According to the highway patrol report, a 2001 Mitsubishi SUV driven by 40-year old Christean Copeland of Bixby was traveling eastbound on Highway 32. The Mitsubishi slid off the right side of the roadway, overturned and struck a tree. Copeland suffered moderate injuries and was taken to the Salem Memorial District Hospital by the Quad County EMS. She was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Mitsubishi was totaled and removed from the scene by Abney’s Towing.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Boys Basketball Tigers beat St. James, 53 to 45 Saturday to take 5th place in the St. James Tournament. C. J. Smith scored 15 points while Grant Gordon netted 13 and Phillip Moser scored 12 more. They are 8-9 on the year and their next game will be Tuesday as they will travel to Steelville. You can hear that game on KSMO radio and ksmoradio.com

The Salem Lady Tigers lost to the Licking Lady Wildcats Friday night by a score of 56 to 47. The girls are 7-9 on the year and their next game will be tonight as they will travel to Sullivan.

DeMarre Carroll scored a game-high 27 points, leading the Missouri Tigers to a 97-86 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Big 12 action at Mizzou Arena. Reserves Marcus Denmon and Leo Lyons scored 14 and 12 points, respectively for the Tigers (17-3, 4-1 Big 12), who have won four straight and eight of their last nine overall. Kim English had 13 points, while J.T. Tiller accounted for seven of Missouri's season-high 20 steals. Missouri will face Kansas State Wednesday night at 7:30.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced Friday that head coach Herm Edwards has been relieved of his duties. Edwards was named the 10th head coach in Chiefs history on January 9, 2006. After guiding Kansas City to a 9-7 record to qualify for the playoffs in his first season, Edwards went just 6-26 over the past two seasons, including a dismal 2-14 mark in 2008.

Obituaries   [TOP]

Funeral services for Ricky Dean Gibson of Hillsboro, age 55, will be held today at 1:00 at the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville. Interment will be in the Viburnum First Baptist Church Cemetery.

Funeral services for Stephen Lynn Pryor of Boss, age 51, will be held today at 1:00 at the Boss Assembly of God Church. Interment will be in the Boss Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Tammy Pryor family and cards are available at the Wilson Mortuary in Salem.

Graveside services for Barbara Mae Light of Rolla, age 65, will be held Wednesday at the Rhea Cemetery in rural Rolla. Memorials may be made to the Rhea Cemetery. All arrangements are under the direction of the James and Gahr Mortuary of Rolla.

Funeral services for Velma Hanks of Steelville, age 83, will be held Thursday morning at 11:00 at the Britton-Bennett Chapel in Steelville. Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 Wednesday. Interment will be in the Steelville Cemetery.

DUE TO FAMILY ILLNESS: Funeral services for Charles Hampton of Salem, age 76, will be POSTPONED til Friday at 1:00 at the Dent County Memorial Chapel. Visitation will be Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00. Interment will be in the North Lawn Cemetery.

Funeral services for Margaret Land of Salem, age 80, are incomplete at this time but are under the direction of the Dent County Memorial Chapel.

Weather [TOP]