Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Healthcare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hospital CEO outlines new STEMI hours, robotics, wound care and staffing challenges
Summary
Rutherford Regional Healthcare CEO Sidandra Ratnasamy briefed commissioners on service expansions — including a Monday–Thursday STEMI program, new robotic orthopedic procedures, and planned wound-care and hyperbaric services — and outlined recruitment and retention efforts amid staffing pressures.
Sidandra Ratnasamy, CEO of Rutherford Regional Healthcare, presented a community-benefit and impact report to the Board of Commissioners on Dec. 1, describing recent service additions and ongoing staffing and recruitment challenges.
Ratnasamy said the hospital employs about 500 staff and works with roughly 120 physicians and advanced practice providers. Key program additions noted in the presentation included a new STEMI program operating Monday through Thursday from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; two robotic systems for orthopedic surgery and investments of about $4.6 million in facility technology this year. The hospital is also planning wound-care and hyperbaric services targeted to open in 2026 and described an intensive outpatient program for behavioral health and substance-use disorder services.
Board members asked about expanding STEMI to 24/7 coverage, chamber capacity for hyperbaric therapy and the number of travel nurses. Ratnasamy said STEMI coverage is currently part-time and that the hospital hopes to expand hours; she said the hospital reduced contract labor from 33 to 14 since July and continues recruitment partnerships with local schools and training programs.
Ratnasamy said the hospital has donated more than $23.2 million in uncompensated or community services and paid about $46.3 million in payroll in the referenced reporting year. She invited commissioners to an upcoming open house when the wound-care and hyperbaric service opens.
