Hospital employees have been learning en masse how to use its new electronic medical records system, trustees learned at their meeting Tuesday night.
The basement meeting room has been “packed like sardines,” said Larry Peterson, chief financial officer, with two-thirds Allen County Hospital employees and the rest employees with Cerner Corporation, the software provider.
The house-wide training, which involves training “super users” who will then coach others for different modalities, will continue through Thursday.
The transition from Hospital Corporation of America to a county-managed hospital by June 1 continues on track, said Ron Baker, hospital chief executive officer. Baker said he is investigating three insurance companies to provide a new benefits package for hospital employees and should be able to make a recommendation by the board’s next meeting, April 9.
Baker also said he in the process of compiling information regarding engineering and purchasing reports, which he will make available to the public upon request. Baker said he had received a “smattering of questions,” regarding the building inspection process at the recent Chamber of Commerce EXPO, and wanted to be forthcoming with such information.
Harry Lee, chairman of the board of trustees, said he had recently been approached as to why the new hospital needed a fundraising arm on top of a $30 million allowance to build the new hospital.
“We’re borrowing as much as we think we can afford without putting the hospital’s construction on the tax rolls,” Lee said he told them. Hospital profits have proven to the satisfaction of trustees that they can comfortably pay off the loan at a steady clip. And while the $30 million can build a new hospital, it cannot equip the building to the full extent the facility needs. About $2 million of that $30 million has been set aside to purchase new equipment for the hospital.
The United for Excellence fundraising campaign has a goal of $3.8 million in funds with another $1 million to establish an endowment for the hospital. To date, it has raised a little more than $1.8 million.
Training engulfs hospital staff
