12 The Lovell Chronicle l August 6, 2015
DAVID PECK
Chad Lindsay of Lovell wowed the audience during the Scottish Highland
Games at the Festival of Nations in Red Lodge Saturday. Here, he flips a
long
log end over end during the caber toss event.
Nelson named to officials
Stuart Nelson of
Wheatland was inducted
into the Wyoming Sports
Officials Association Hall of
Fame on July 24 in Casper.
The award is designed
to provide special recog-
nition to individuals who
have contributed great-
ly to the youth of Wyo-
ming through their service
and contributions through
sports officiating.
Nelson is a 1977 grad-
uate of Lovell High School
and began officiating while
a student at UW. Upon
graduation, he taught
school at Worland and con-
tinued to officiate with his
dad, Rich, as his partner.
He moved to Cheyenne
in 1986 to serve as princi—
pal of two schools and in
2002 moved to Wheatland,
Where he served as super-
intendent until his retire-
ment in 2012.
He officiated basket-
ball and football through-
NORlH BIG HORN
out his career and served
as a board member and
president of the Wyoming
High School Activities
Association.
The award was pre-
.hld‘s
hall of wfame
COURTESY PHOTO
Stuart Nelson poses with the plaque presented to
him July 24 during his induction into the Wyoming
Sports Officials Association Hall of Fame in Casper.
sented July 24 by Ron
Laird and Trevor Wilson,
WHSAA commissioners.
Nelson is the son
of Dorothy and the late
Rich Nelson.
'
Corners awn 9m Mlnchow 5
Hospital District continues to do
well compared to other districts
BY PATTI CARPENTER
According to North
Big Horn Hospital’s Chief
Financial Officer Lori
Smith, the district’s low
debt is impressive, com-
pared to many rural hos-
pitals across the state
that are suffering finan-
cially. Smith presented
a final budget to the dis-
trict’s board of trustees,
which was approved at a
special meeting held on
Tuesday, July 21.
The budget projects a
cost of about $19 million
a year to run thehospital
district, which operates
as a non-profit. The ap-
proved budget projects a
net gain of $112,000 com-
pared to around $200,000
last year. Smith said the
difference is relatively
small to the overall bud-
get and reflects addition-
al expenditures anticipat-
ed for new programs and
equipment, and a slight
pay increase for employ-
ees and other expenses.
She noted that any prof-
its, should they occur at
the end of the fiscal year,
are generally used toward
equipment expenditures.
The budget includes
an overall increase in pa-
tient services charges of
6 percent. The increases
are based on what is rea-
sonable and customary
for facilities in the area.
“We generally go
back and review every
charge that we have every
year,” explained Smith.
“We do this to make sure
we are not overcharging.
Last year we had a for-
mal charge master re-
view and they made rec—
ommendations to us. We
look at those recommen-
dations and tailor it to our
community because if we
go strictly off those rec-
ommendations, we may
overprice ourselves for
the area. So we look and
compare our rates to 10—
cal facilities and we price
ourselves accordingly.”
Smith added, that
in many cases those
charges are lower than
recommended.
She explained that
though the patient ser-
vices went up 6 percent, it
doesn’t necessarily mean
the hospital will collect
that much money due to
contractual rates with in-
surance companies and
lower payments by gov-
ernment programs like
Medicaid and Medicare.
She said the increase
basically covers an in-
crease in costs projected
for the upcoming fiscal
year.
She said costs asso-
ciated with the new con-
struction currently go-
ing on at the hospital and
clinic are being calculat-
ed in a completely sepa-
rate budget and are not
the cause of increase in
fees. The hospitalis us-
ing money from a special
fund that includes sever-
al years of a careful sav-
ings program grant dol-
lars and bank financing
backed by bonds. Since
the increased square
footage in the clinic and
physical therapy areas is
expected to increase rev-
enue it most likely will
balance out the cost of
the construction and will
not necessarily affect the
general budget.
Smith said the budget
anticipates an increase in
revenue of $774,000 due
to new surgical services
that will be offered by an
orthopedic surgeon who
has not performed sur-
geries at the hospital in
the past.
“We are expecting
at least two surgeries to
be performed per week,”
said Smith. “In order to
accommodate these new
services, the hospital is
purchasing additional
equipment and supplies.”
Smith said fees for
long-term care will re-
main unchanged with
the potential for a de-
crease in reimbursement
from government payers
due to the aging facility.
She said the budget an-
ticipates permanent im-
provements to the New
Horizons Care Center in
the future, including new
flooring, windows and
wireless computer sys-
tems that will factor into
the reimbursement rate
for the facility.
Contractual allow-
ances (discounts with in-
surance carriers) are ex-
pected to increase by 12
percent. The budget also
anticipates uncollectible
fees owed for services
rendered to increase in
proportion with the reve-
nue overall increase. ‘The
budget does not include
$200,000 approved by the
legislature that will offset
part of that cost. Smith
said she didn’t include
that amount because it
was still unclear when
the district would receive
the funds from the state
within the fiscal year cov-
ered by the budget.
The new Mobile Med-
ical Unit and the Edu-
cation Department are
expected to bring in addi-
tional revenue by offering
new or expanded services
cornparcd to the previous
year. 1
Total operating ex-
penses are expected to in-
crease overall 7 percent.
A large portion of this in-
crease is due to increas-
es in employee benefits,
equipment purchased
for orthopedic surgery
as well as education and
travel expenses. Smith
explained that the dis-
trict held back consider-
ably on educational ex-
penses last year and the
increase reflects expens-
es to meet continuing ed-
ucation requirements for
staff.
Expenses for new
programs like Lean Six
Sigma, Leadership De-
velopment and Hospital
Preparedness are also
factored into the budget
for the year. Grant in-
come is expected to de-
crease for the year, along
with interest income,
which is also expected to
impact the bottom line.
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