Petersburg Medical Center board updates on construction, long‑term care rules and approves amendment on account signers

The Petersburg Medical Center Board approved an amendment to its resolution authorizing signers on the hospital's bank and investment accounts, including language clarifying staff signature authority for long‑term care resident trust funds, during a regular board meeting where leaders also discussed a November water leak, progress on the new work building and recent federal regulatory changes.

Board members voted by voice to approve the amendment after a discussion about how resident trust funds are held and managed. The change adds an express authorization that the president, vice president and secretary of the association and certain executives be signers on investment accounts and clarifies that the CEO may appoint or remove staff signature authority on resident trust accounts held at FirstBank. The board passed the motion by voice vote; individual roll‑call tallies were not recorded in the minutes.

The board's action responded to recent staff turnover and a need to streamline the bank's process for updating signers, board members and staff said. "In the spirit of separation of duties, none of those individuals have access to check stock'... the accounting department'creates the checks, right? They don't sign the checks," a board member said while explaining internal controls.

Why it matters: The amendment affects how hospital funds are accessed and the sequence of approvals for payments and transfers. Board members asked about safeguards for long‑term care residents who have individual accounts; staff explained those are maintained in a single bank account with separate accounting records for each resident.

The board also received reports and operational updates:

- Water leak and aftermath: Facilities staff member Wolf described a failure of "an air bleeder in our hydronic heating system" that released a substantial amount of water into an ICU area and nearby spaces. Wolf said multiple fixtures in that zone are aging and will be replaced. He said there were no immediate reports of severe damage but that the cleanup required trash cans and staff response to contain water.

- Coast Guard recognition: Board members noted that the U.S. Coast Guard presented Petersburg Medical Center with a plaque recognizing staff for treating four injured crew members from Rescue Helicopter 6016 on the night of Nov. 13'14, 2023.

- New facility construction: Justin Wetzel with Arcadis gave a construction update. Site utilities for the new work building are complete, interior metal framing and mechanical/electrical rough‑in for the first and second floors are largely finished and "the building's essentially dried in," he said. Work on gypsum wallboard, taping and painting is underway; the MRI addition is delayed pending coordination on RF shielding with Siemens and a vendor identified as ETS.

- Long‑term care and regulatory changes: Jennifer Bridal, a hospital staff member, told the board the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released about "900 pages of revised regulations" and staff have received a memo highlighting areas of interest. "We just got it late last week, and we will be reviewing all of those areas to make sure that our policies and procedures are up to date with what they expect," Bridal said.

- Service and staffing notes: The board heard that long‑term care has created an on‑the‑job rehab tech position to assist physical therapy and help residents with mobility; the dietary department is piloting advance meal ordering for residents; and recruitment of specialty clinic providers and telemedicine partnerships (including a visit from an AirLift Northwest telestroke team coordinating with Harborview) is ongoing.

- Financial report and audit items: Jason (finance staff) reviewed operational metrics and financial results. He said clinic visits and imaging are up year to date; home health visits rose 16% for the month. The hospital reported strong gross revenues for the month driven by a high inpatient census and swing‑bed utilization; the finance presentation noted $215,000 received as a state disproportionate share payment tied to prior‑year services. Jason also said the auditors requested an accounting classification change that improved the month's bottom line; he cautioned that one large noncash journal entry related to PERS affects the appearance of net income and is not cash. Grant revenue related to construction work was reported as earned during the reporting period.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to approve the agenda as presented: passed by voice vote (motion and second recorded; voice vote "Aye" noted). No roll‑call tally recorded. - Motion to approve Board minutes from Oct. 24, 2024: passed by voice vote. No roll‑call tally recorded. - Motion to approve an amendment to the resolution on authorized signers for bank and investment accounts (adds language addressing resident trust accounts and staff signature authority): moved and seconded; passed by voice vote, no recorded roll call. The amendment expressly permits the CEO to appoint or remove staff signature authority on the resident trust account at FirstBank and requires two authorizations for ACH transactions. - Officer elections (one‑year terms): Jared elected president (nomination/second; voice vote), Cindy elected vice president (nomination/second; voice vote), Marlene elected secretary (nomination/second; voice vote). No roll‑call tallies recorded. - Motion to go into executive session to consider medical staff appointments and reappointments and legal matters: moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

What was not decided: The board did not adopt any new clinical policies during the meeting; staff said they are still reviewing the new CMS regulation package and will report back. The board also scheduled discussion of upcoming assembly work sessions and tentative January meeting dates.

The board set tentative calendar items, including a possible assembly work session on Jan. 27 and a board meeting on Jan. 30; members noted some anticipated absences. The board then moved into an executive session on medical staff appointments and legal issues.

Ending: The board deferred formal action on CMS regulatory implementation to future meetings and directed staff to continue reviewing the new requirements and report any needed policy updates to the board.