In response to community input, Petersburg’s hospital board will hold its first meeting in the Assembly Chambers of the municipal building tonight. The board has moved its regularly scheduled meeting time from 5:00 pm to 5:30 p.m.
KFSK will broadcast this meeting — and all future hospital board meetings — live.
Petersburg Medical Center’s IT Department is scheduled to update the Board on a few ways they’re expanding service. They’re working with Derrick Casey, the director of Mountain View Manor, to improve internet capabilities throughout the assisted living facility. The department also received some grant funding for telemedicine, which assisted with the construction of three new telehealth rooms.
The Materials Management Department will update the Board on the hospital’s inventory. They’re currently working on replacing all of the hospital’s latex catheters with non-latex ones and replenishing surgery supplies.
The Nursing Department will report on ongoing staffing challenges. Over the past three months, the department has needed additional contract nurses to address several vacant positions. This summer’s staffing shortage caused the department to halve its acute care staffing during the weekdays.
Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Bryner reports that they are stable in the short term, but require additional help to ensure all their administrative work can be completed, in addition to their patient care. PMC is also advertising for a Certified Nursing Assistant class to begin in October.
Finally, the Board will enter into an executive session — closed to the public — to consider medical staff appointments and legal matters.
KFSK will broadcast that meeting live and post the recording in our Hospital Board Archive. Anyone from the community can join the meeting in person, by phone, or on Zoom. There’s more information on KFSK’s community calendar.
