The Salem Township Hospital Board has passed a $54-million budget for the fiscal year that begins April first.
Hospital CEO Jim Timpe says they should finish the year in the black, but it a much tighter budget than the last fiscal year.
“We are seeing the impact of the changes with the Big Beautiful Bill that are coming up,” Timpe said. “Some of those are the expiration of the additional help on ACA plans. Coming next January are the changes to Medicaid and eligibility requirements. In next year’s budget, we did have to factor those items in. At the same time, we’re seeing our expenses go up by between 11 and 12 percent, mainly to due to the increased cost of supplies, particularly medical supplies that are being shipped.”
With an estimated 10-percent reduction in those with affordable health care plans and an anticipated 15 percent drop in those on Medicaid by the beginning of next year, the hospital is expecting a big jump in those being self pay who eventually become no pay because of their foundation. As a result, the budget for charity care was increased from $1.5 million to $1.9 million next year.
In addition to funding the ongoing renovation and expansion of the emergency and operating room area, there is an additional $2.2-million capital improvements budget. It includes a new mammography machine.
The budget also supports the addition of a wound care program.
“It’s going to start once a week, and we’re going to have wound care for people with non-healing wounds,” Timpe said. “These are typically diabetic patients who have wounds that aren’t healing, and we’re going to be offering wound care so that they don’t have to go so far. Right now, people go pretty far out of town, even as far as St. Louis to have those services done, and we’ll be able to offer those right here in town.”
Timpe says the hospital has also filled all of its nurse practitioner positions.
“We will be adding two additional providers at our family healthcare center on Whitaker, so we will have our full complement of primary care providers that that facility can hold,” Timpe said. “It will be four providers there. Currently we have two, and we’re going up to four. We have four there, and we have two primary care providers here at our RHC location. We have also hired additional providers for our RHC urgent care. We should have three providers on every day now, so our wait times are going down significantly.”
Timpe says the new staff will be introduced as they come on board, with the two openings filled at West Whitaker, the center is once again welcoming new patients.
The budget includes money for a new mammography machine and funding to offer a one time a week open wound care program beginning in June. Timpe also announced that the hospital has filled all its open medical provider positions and is now taking new patients at the West Whitaker Family Medical Center.
