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Mammoth Hospital recently reached a significant milestone implementing Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) in a nationally incentivized push to move patient charting to an electronic format.

Electronic Medical Records, (EMRs) allow for more complete and accurate charting, making health information available when and where it is needed for better informed decisions and more coordinated care. Hospital EMRs allow a provider to quickly and accurately order labs, medical images, and other services, greatly improving efficiency of each patient visit.

EMRs also allow for the aggregation of all available patient medical information in one electronic chart whether the information comes from a clinic visit, the emergency department, or an inpatient hospital stay. Clinical alerting is also integrated into the EMR process so that a provider is notified of potential allergic reactions to medications based on a patient’s medical history.

Not only do Electronic Medical Records improve patient and provider convenience, implementing the software is a major step in meeting meaningful use; an evolving term all major hospitals are moving toward in order to qualify for federal incentive funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Government incentives and programs are helping health care providers across the nation currently relying on medical record systems based on paper to make the switch to EMRs to improve patient care. Hospitals meeting all the meaningful use criteria are then authorized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to become a “meaningful user” of certified Electronic Medical Record technology and to qualify for reimbursements while improving quality and efficiency of care for their patients.

The Computerized Provider Order Entry implementation was a great success due to the efforts of Mark Lind, IT Director, Sara Sillcox, Nursing Informatics Specialist; Ellen Cho, Pharmacist; Erica Wells, Med Surg Nurse Manager and the Med Surg nursing team; the Siemens implementation team; and the outstanding support received from hospitalists Dr. Cherkassky and Dr. Khurana. Within a week, Mammoth Hospital had 67% of physician medication orders entered electronically; well above the meaningful use requirement of 30%.

For more information on Mammoth Hospital and its ongoing efforts to improve patient care, visit www.mammothhospital.com.

Dancing with the Stars, passe. Try Dancing with the Docs!

This summer, five Mammoth Hospital doctors and their “celebrity” partners will be shaking their booties for a chance to be crowned the winning team at the “Dancing with the Docs” gala event, to be held Sept. 22.The fundraiser, a dance competition between physicians, takes the place of Mammoth Hospital’s Festival of Trees annual event. The hospital’s Fund Development Coordinator Bubby Greene pitched the idea to Community Relations Director Lori Ciccarelli after seeing a Dancing with the Stars spin off titled, “Dancing with the Priests.”

Ciccarelli loved the idea and easily got the board of the hospital’s foundation, the Healthcare Trust of Mammoth Lakes, to buy in as well.

“It’s going to be something fun for the town,” said Ciccarelli, who will emcee the Sept. 22 event with Chair of the Healthcare Trust and former hospital CEO, Gary Myers.

Slated to perform:

Kris Wilson, MD, Pediatrician and Tommy Czeschin, Olympic silver medalist and Amazing Race television star, with Leah Dutcher choreographing.

Kim Escudero, MD, Pediatrician and X-Games gold medalist Johnny Teller, with choreographer Pamela Stayden.

Yuri Parisky, MD, Radiologist and Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra Executive Director Kathy Copeland, choreography by Gigi Van der Riet.

Kurt Smith, MD, Anesthesiologist (choreographing) and Jamie Halverson of the Mammoth Lakes Foundation.

Jennie Walker, MD, Emergency Medicine and Town of Mammoth Lakes Recreation Manager Stu Brown with choreography by Allison Page.

 

Many of the teams met for the first time this week to kick off rehearsals. As an additional bonus to the event, the teams will be filmed throughout the three-month process. Beginning July 27, local television station Sierra Wave will turn the footage into a nine-week miniseries leading up to the gala. New episodes will play every Friday evening (time TBA), and will then repeat throughout the week. The gala event will also be taped and play the week after it occurs.

The Sheet touched base with all of the teams this week to get a look at how the competition was stacking up.

Yuri Parisky and Kathy Copeland – Jumpin’ and Jivin’

Kathy Copeland, known for her fun-loving and energetic personality seems like she might be tough to keep up with on the dance floor, but at their first meeting on Wednesday night, Yuri Parisky proved a good match.

“Yuri will do his homework and Kathy will wing it,” said their choreographer Gigi Van der Riet to the camera after spending an hour and a half with her team.

The couple will be performing the Jive.

“The Jive is not as technical but it takes a huge amount of energy,” Van der Riet, a native of South Africa with a background in ballet, contemporary and jazz dance, said.

With zero dance background, Yuri did his best to pick up the moves quickly in the two-hour rehearsa.

“I’m doing this because I believe in the hospital,” Parisky said. “Patients I take care of benefit from the Healthcare Trust. Plus, it’s a great way to get back in shape, lose some weight and prove that talentless people can be taught to dance!”

“Going out and making fools of ourselves is a fun way to give back,” Kathy joked. She says her sole claim to dancing fame was at Whiskey Creek during her drinking days.

“It’s like the Romans feeding someone to the lions,” Yuri added.

Expect high energy and even some lifts to be part of Yuri and Kathy’s routine. The pair’s method of practice will be slightly unique since Kathy will be hiking the John Muir Trail for the entire month of August.

“We’ll be shadow dancing with Gigi when the other isn’t around,” Yuri said. “So when we come together the sparks will fly!”

 

Kris Wilson and Tommy Czeschin – Cha-Cha-Cha-ing

Kris and Tommy were scheduled to meet for the first time this Friday night, June 29, according to Czeschin.

“I have no dance background, whatsoever,” Czeschin admitted. “I am really doing it to support the hospital.” He thought the team would be learning the moves to the Cha-Cha.

Czeschin, fresh off of the reality television show, The Amazing Race, didn’t see Dancing with the Docs as following a similar reality TV track. Perhaps no one had clued him into the miniseries portion, yet.

The team’s choreographer, Leah Dutcher was excited to get the process rolling. “I can say that I am quite anxious to get started,” she wrote via email. “Having been a Ballroom dance instructor for 10 years in Los Angeles, and again for 8 years here in Bishop, I know how much hard work it takes to get people to the ‘performance’ level. I hope my team is ready for a fun, but difficult, journey!

I do hope the event is a huge success!”

 

Kurt Smith and Jamie Halverson – Disco 

Disco actually has some of its roots in various forms of ballroom, and can be very elegant when done well. Mammoth Hospital Anesthesiologist Dr. Kurt Smith and the Mammoth Lakes Foundation’s Jamie Halverson plan to put Studio 54 sheen on a disco routine for their dance.

“I picked out ‘Last Dance’ by Donna Summer, who died recently. Disco was sort of aerobics before there was aerobics in gyms,” Smith noted, emphasizing its natural athleticism, which he thinks is a bit overlooked in the dance world.

Their routine is based on one that was created by Smith for an intra-fraternity competition during his college days. Smith won, always a good reason to dig up the old moves and dig out the old Saturday Night Fever suit and dancing shoes!

Halverson said she’s also done a few turns on the disco dance floor back in the day. “I’m came out of the disco era,” she acknowledged. “I remember bell-bottom jeans, hip huggers, white and red checkered tops, collars that were super big with the sleeves flared out.” Look for their routine to be as much about the costumes as the dancing. “When I think of disco, I think of fashion,” Halverson quipped.

As mentioned, this team will be choreography its own moves.

“The toughest part of putting this together has been finding choreographers,” Ciccarelli said. “I couldn’t talk anyone into taking on two teams.”

 

Jennie Walker and Stu Brown – Crazy like a Foxtrot

If it’s true that you can’t beat the classics, then Mammoth Hospital Emergency Medicine Doctor Jennie Walker and Town of Mammoth Lakes Recreation and Communication Director Stu Brown plan to highlight why the Foxtrot isn’t just formal, it’s also a lot of fun.

I was also a dancer for many years,” said Walker. “I studied mostly ballet and jazz, with some tap and a little ballroom experience. I made a short-lived attempt at a professional career, but realized that was not likely to be successful, so I went to medical school instead! I am really excited to have an opportunity to perform again!”

“My best friend was a ballroom dancer and I danced with my daughter at cotillion, which is the extent of my ballroom dancing experience,” Brown acknowledged. “But I would describe myself as a casual observer of ‘Dancing with the Stars.’” The duo hasn’t yet settled on music, but has started working out the steps.

Choreographing the pair is actress and theatre director Allison McDonell Page, who as it happens has a fair amount of dancing on her impressive resume. “I have little ballroom dance experience, though I hope to live vicariously through my great aunt who taught ballroom dancing for 40 years in Chapel Hill, North Carolina,” she said. “However, I was a dancer most of my life. I studied jazz and modern mostly. I choreographed through high school and college and was the Director of a Dance company at Harvard.

Page said she contemplated a career in musicals as a chorus girl, but wasn’t too sure of her singing voice and decided to change paths and become an actress. “I worked as an actress for 15 years in New York City, Los Angeles and theaters around the country. Though it’s been a while since I took a dance class, I did choreograph a number for last year’s high school production of “The Wizard of Oz” (she did “The Jitterbug” number). I think we will have a blast and will be the team to beat!”

 

Choreographer Pamela Stayden and Dr. Kim Escudero

Kim Escudero and Johnny Teller – Salsa 

Dr. Kim Escudero loves to dance, but has never done so in a formal setting.

Now she’ll get her chance … if her partner John Teller shows up.

Johnny was late for practice on Wednesday because he’s busy competing in the Mammoth Motocross.

Mike Fiebiger, who employs Teller at Alpine Garage, is dubious of Teller’s talents.

“He can’t dance. He makes me look like Fred Astaire. You know white guys can’t dance. All we can do is slow dance.”

Fortunately Escudero, who’s half Puerto Rican, says dancing’s in her blood.

“She’s got great hips,” adds choreographer Pamela Stayden.

“And I’ve been pleasantly surprised [by Johnny],” Stayden added. “He’s been giving input. And they’ve got their song picked out.”

Teller and Escudero are dancing for Rhiannon’s kids, a fund set up for local children to help pay for families’ transportation costs if a child with serious medical issues needs to be transferred to a bigger hospital.

 

Ciccarelli said that there is a possibility of a sixth team if she can find another doctor to commit.

“There were zero takers when we first put the idea out there, but slowly the doctors have come around,” she said.

The competition will take place on Sept. 22 and money raised will go the hospital. Each team’s dance will last between 2-2.5 minutes. There will be two forms of judging at the gala. A panel of judges as well as a People’s Choice Award.

“The event is already bringing in people from all walks of life,” Ciccarelli said. Athletes, the medical community, DSES volunteers and more have already begun to approach her. Placing the doctors outside of their elements is a real draw.

Tickets for the Sept. 22 gala are $100. For sponsorship opportunities or to learn more, contact Greene at 760.924.4128 or Ciccarelli at 760.924.4015.

 

 

 

 

This year Denim Day took place on Wednesday, April 25. Denim Day helps promote the fight against sexual violence with a fashion statement. Employees at Mammoth Hospital took the time to wear their denim and take a photo.

The idea behind Denim Day arose in Italy in the 1990s. An 18-year-old girl was picked up by her married 45-year old driving instructor for her very first lesson. He took her to an isolated road, pulled her out of the car, wrestled her out of one leg of her jeans and forcefully raped her. Threatened with death if she told anyone, he made her drive the car home. Later that night she told her parents, and they helped and supported her in press charges. The perpetrator was arrested and prosecuted. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to jail.

He appealed the sentence. The case made it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court. Within a matter of days the case against the driving instructor was overturned, dismissed, and the perpetrator released. In a statement by the Chief Judge, he argued, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”

Enraged by the verdict, within a matter of hours the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action and protested by wearing jeans to work. This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same. The incident sparked the annual Denim Day recognition.

Sara Sillcox, RN, (left) with Kevin and Lis Mazzu, owners of McDonald’s in Mammoth and Bishop. The Mazzus helped Mammoth Hospital recently procure a Ronald McDonald grant of $12,000 to purchase two new cribs for Pediatric patients in the Medical/Surgical/ICU. (Photo: Mammoth Hospital)

Mammoth Hospital CEO Gary Boyd confirmed on Wednesday, Jan. 18 that Dr. Andrew Bourne’s contract with the hospital had been terminated.

“He can’t fulfill his contract terms because he can’t physically be here,” Boyd explained. “He needs to focus on his legal issues at this time.”

Boyd met with Bourne on Sunday, Jan. 15 to deliver the termination. “Both of us agreed that this was the right thing to do,” Boyd said.

“I wanted to talk with him personally and make sure he heard it from me. I didn’t want him to read about it in the paper,” he added as explanation of why he had not made the announcement to the public any earlier.

To cover the extra work left by Bourne’s absence, the hospital is using a combination of traveling surgeons and part-time surgeons already on staff at Mammoth Hospital.

“Two physicians that are on staff are providing some coverage,” Boyd explained. “Both are second homeowners.”

These two physicians are Dr. Bryan Fandrich from Sacramento and Dr. Marc Sedwitz from San Diego.

Boyd explained the contracting in the following way: “Dr. Bourne was contracted to provide general surgery services 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While he was here he subcontracted with these two individuals [Fandrich and Sedwitz] to assist him since one person cannot work every day of the year, 24 hours a day. We [the hospital] are now contracting with these two directly.”

The traveling surgeons, also known as locum tenens are available at the hospital on a somewhat revolving basis.

“There is one here now until about this time next week,” Boyd said.

Boyd confirmed that the traveling surgeons do cost slightly more than the other doctors at the hospital.

“The locum tenens cost a little more because we have to pay per diem whereas the other doctors receive a general rate,” Boyd said.

A preliminary hearing is set for Bourne and Joe Walker for Thursday, Jan. 19 at the Santa Barbara Superior Court. Santa Barbara Deputy D.A. Mary Barron stated at last week’s hearing that she planned to file additional charges against the two men.

On Wednesday, Jan. 4 members of the Santa Barbara Police Department with the assistance of the Mammoth Lakes Police Department arrested Mammoth residents, Dr. Andrew C. Bourne, 46, and Joseph T. Walker, 48 in Mammoth Lakes.

According to the Santa Barbara Police Department, Walker was arrested and booked for 6 counts of 288.3 PC, illegal communication with a minor to facilitate sexual activity and 1 count of 288 (c)(1) PC, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Bourne was arrested and booked for 8 counts of 288.3 PC, illegal communication with a minor to facilitate sexual activity.

Both men were released last week on reduced bails of $750,000 each.

OB/GYN Martha Kim arrives in Mammoth from Eugene, Ore.

Let’s just say Mammoth Hospital’s new OB/GYN Martha Kim makes a good first impression.

It was late-September. My wife, three and a half months pregnant, was experiencing some cramping and was understandably nervous. She is at a fairly advanced age for an expectant first-time mother, and didn’t wish to take any chances.

She was instructed to go to the Emergency Room and get an ultrasound.

While I didn’t wish to take any chances either, I also didn’t feel like incurring an ER bill. On a whim, I called the Women’s Clinic at Mammoth Hospital to see if they could squeeze us in for a quick appointment. Dr. Martha Kim was indeed in the office. She was also triple-booked.

I begged. I pleaded. I mentioned my wife’s age and symptoms. Dr. Kim didn’t hesitate in quadruple-booking herself.

And in the course of that appointment, which turned out to be a false alarm, it became clear that my wife felt secure with Dr. Kim – that the experience was interactive. That Dr. Kim listened. That the energy in the room was calm and supportive.

We had found the right person to deliver our child.

Dr. Martha Kim moved to Mammoth from Eugene, Ore. earlier this year after, literally, a four year recruiting process by Dr. Andrew Bourne.

“Andy was pretty relentless,” she said with a laugh.

When Kim moved to Eugene, Ore., in 2004, Bourne had already been there a few years. The doctors and their spouses did some things together socially. Then, the Bournes moved to Mammoth Lakes.

When Bourne began the recruiting process, Kim knew she wasn’t ready. As she says, “being an OB/GYN in a small community is hard. You’re it. You need a solid set of skills. I felt I had more to learn.”

Yet, as a former ski racer, there was always that allure to live in a ski town, as opposed to living two-and-a-half hours away from the nearest one – Mt. Hood.

But there was also the aspect of practicing medicine in a place which may not offer the same variety of challenges.

“I can deliver a pre-term baby, but we [Mammoth] don’t have an NICU [Natal Intensive Care Unit] for babies. And won’t. We can’t support it. It’s ridiculously expensive.

“Do I miss that? Yeah. I did a lot of high-risk cases. But Andy Bourne doesn’t do crazy vascular surgeries anymore, either.”

In the absence of Grey’s Anatomy-type surgical theatrics, however, Kim’s goal is to help Mammoth Hospital be as good and efficient as possible and keep improving its standard of care.

She’s big on training. On a regular basis, she sets up what she calls “Baby Batting Cages” so she and her staff can run through scenarios.

“They were heading in that direction [emphasis on training] before I came, but I’m probably more enthusiastic about it,” she said.

“In my view, we’re good, but we have to get even better, because we’re in the boonies.”

Kim has been married for 13 years to Stephen Moore, who has a Masters in Public Health Policy. They moved here for Martha’s job. Stephen is still looking for work. It’s a common plight for many couples in the Eastern Sierra – the challenge of finding good jobs for both halves of the team.

Moore, however, has been keeping busy. Just see the story in this issue regarding a recent medical mission by a local team of doctors and support staff (including Moore and Kim) to Chiapas, Mexico.

Martha Kim received her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and her medical degree from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Stephen Swisher

Faces similar issue with Board appointment

For the second time in a year, the Southern Mono Healthcare District Hospital Board of Directors found itself having to turn down a very qualified applicant to fill a vacant seat on the Board due to a legal discrepancy.

At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Board looked at six applicants for the vacant seat left open when Jack Copeland, citing a conflict of interest due to Mammoth Hospital’s future contracts with Mammoth Mountain, resigned from the Board in October.

Michael Carrigan, Ed Forstenzer, Edyth Irvine, Richard Hamilton (M.D.), Rick Phelps and Stephen Swisher (M.D.) all threw their hats into the ring. Carrigan and Irvine did not attend Thursday’s meeting to speak to the Board, and sent letters instead. The other four applicants made brief presentations explaining why they were the best for the job.

During his presentation Dr. Swisher, who not only contracts with Mammoth Hospital but is also very involved in some of its financial boards and committees, pointed out his many connections to the hospital. One of those connections includes his marriage to fellow physician, Dr. Mary Bassler.

The Hospital Board’s legal counsel, David Baumwohl had been unaware of this connection until Swisher announced it at the meeting. When it became clear that the Board wanted to appoint Swisher for the position, Baumwohl put on the brakes.

“I am trying to determine if his marriage to Dr. Bassler disqualifies him,” Baumwohl explained.

Last year, almost to the day, The Sheet reported on the last round of Board appointment following the resignation of longtime member Don Sage.

According to the 2010 report, “John King is an engineer that is used to working on data systems and could have been valuable with the Hospital’s IT, however his wife is a doctor at Mammoth Hospital. According to the Board’s legal counsel, David Baumwohl, this presents a conflict of interest problem. ‘There is an exception in the conflict of interest laws to allow physicians to serve [which is why Dr. Dennis Crunk is able to sit on the Board], but it is unclear if the exemption applies to a spouse,’ Baumwohl explained. ‘If the legislator intended for the exemption to include a spouse, why wouldn’t it be stated?’”

Swisher fell into similar territory and upon reviewing his notes from the 2010 meeting, Baumwohl determined this week that Swisher should be disqualified from filling the seat.

“However, I can’t give him [Swisher] legal advice, so really it’s his call,” Baumwohl said.

The issue stems from Board applicants having a financial interest in the District. It is a conflict under Government Code 1090 to sit on the Board if you have such an interest, according to Baumwohl. However, there is an exemption that allows a contracted physician to go ahead and sit on the Board. If that physician, however, has a spouse that is also contracted by the hospital, the waters are murky.

A contracted physician is different from a hospital employee in that the physician is an independent contractor.

Even after the warning, however, Swisher claimed he was still interested in the seat.

“If the code is silent on something, it’s silent,” he said.

“But [when dealing with Board issues] if 1090 applies you’d absolutely be barred from making a decision,” Baumwohl said.

Board Director Lynda Salcido was concerned what it would mean for the entire Board if they did in fact seat Swisher.

“It would definitely put the Board in a negative light,” Baumwohl said. “Your legal counsel is sitting here saying that he [Swisher] has a 1090 conflict.”

It was suggested by the public that the Board and Baumwohl take time to further research the code, but Baumwohl pointed out that not only had he fully researched the same issue last year, but that the Board was also dealing with a time crunch.

“We are approaching the 60-day limit to fill the seat,” he said. “If we don’t fill it, the County can fill it or mandate that we hold a special election.”

Ed Forstenzer

Ultimately, the Board voted 4-0 to appoint Ed Forstenzer (Mono County retired judge) with the footnote that the election for three board seats would be up next November.

“The elections are eleven months away so you could see an almost entirely new board up here,” Salcido said. She added that in that time period candidates (i.e. Swisher) could do more research on the spouse issue to determine whether he could with good conscience sit on the Board.

The other doctor in the bunch, Richard Hamilton, could not garner enough votes for the appointment even though several members of the public, as well as Board member Dr. Dennis Crunk stressed the importance of having someone on the Board with deep knowledge of the medical field.

Forstenzer was immediately sworn in to the term that expires in 2014.

Due to a cancellation of the Nov. 17 Southern Mono Healthcare District’s Board meeting, an extension for the current board vacancy has been issued. All completed applications must be received by the District Office by 5 p.m. on Dec. 7. Interviews will be conducted at the Board’s Dec. 15 meeting and appointment of the new Board member will also be made at that meeting.

The spot on the Board opened up last month when member Jack Copeland resigned due to a conflict of interest. Mammoth Hospital is developing a marketing program with Copeland’s employer, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.

In order to serve on the Board, a member must be a registered voter, over 18 years of age, and reside within the boundaries of the Southern Mono Healthcare District. The vacant term expires Nov. 30, 2014.

All interested persons are requested to contact the District Secretary at the District Offices at 760.924.4114, or P.O. Box 660, 85 Sierra Park Road, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546, to request an application.

… And a new Board member

What seemed like a sudden change to the makeup of the Southern Mono Healthcare District’s Board of Directors on Thursday had actually been in the works for several months.

Shortly after coming out of closed session from Thursday’s Board meeting, Board Chairman Jack Copeland resigned. He had sat on the Board for approximately seven years.

“I am resigning from the Board, effective now,” Copeland said. “The reason will become evident when you get to new business [a segment of the agenda].” Copeland then got up and left the meeting.

Under new business, hospital CEO Gary Boyd explained that the hospital plans to enter into a partnership with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area to increase the hospital’s presence at ski area properties, as well as in ski area print and electronic media. The hospital would also be allowed to use MMSA’s logo in its communications if it chose, Boyd said.

“Each year about 1.4 million skiers and riders visit Mammoth Mountain and they often don’t even know the hospital is here,” Boyd explained.

The Mountain came to Boyd with the idea several months ago, and he felt it was an important program for the hospital. As discussions progressed, however, it became clear that Copeland, a VP at Mammoth Mountain, would have a conflict if he remained on the Board.

“To move forward Jack could not be a Board member,” Boyd explained. While he was saddened that Copeland had to leave, Boyd felt that exposure to 1.4 million people was the best thing for the organization.

The Board’s legal counsel, David Baumwohl, will also be unable to represent the Board on this matter because MMSA is a client.

The only details that Boyd provided to the Board about the particulars of the agreement were that it would be a five-year obligation that would cost the hospital $45,000 the first year, and have an incremental increase each year following.

Boyd said he would speak with Baumwohl about whether or not the agreement needed to come back before the Board with details since it deals with money, but it may also be under Boyd’s authority to move forward even without the Board’s approval.

If Board approval is necessary, a special meeting will need to be called because the program is all ready to be implemented this winter, according to Boyd, and the next regular Board meeting does not take place until after the Mountain opens on Nov. 10.

In the meantime, the Board’s Vice Chair Lynda Salcido took over as Chair after Copeland’s departure. There is now a vacant position on the Board. Rather than spend the money to hold a Special Election, Baumwohl recommended filling the seat by appointment instead. The position will be publicly noticed and the Board would hope to fill the seat at its regular November meeting.

While still tying up loose ends on negotiations with the Town over the McFlex Parcel, Mammoth Hospital is simultaneously looking forward to what it might do with that land once its reclaimed.

“According to the [McFlex] contract we are supposed to receive 30 percent of the property,” explained Hospital CEO Gary Boyd. “But on the current map it’s obvious that our portion is not at 30 percent. We [Town and Hospital] are all in agreement now that it’s not 30 percent, so we are trying to bend Tavern Road somehow to get the Hospital its entire portion and honor the original contract.”

One potential for a portion of the parcel could be a new inpatient facility that would be part of a larger Hospital master facilities plan. By 2020 the original hospital building from 1976 must come into earthquake compliance according to SB 1953. However, it might be more cost-effective to demolish the old structure and build new, rather than renovate.

On Thursday, Anova Nexus Architects presented three master plan concepts to the Hospital Board that would not only demolish the original hospital building and build a new inpatient facility, but would also shuffle services around in other buildings in an effort to make Mammoth’s hospital experience run smoother for patients. For example, outpatient entrances on one side of the property and inpatients on the other with diagnostics and treatments in the middle so, as Anova President Don Finlayson explained, inpatients in hospital gowns with everything hanging out don’t have to be wheeled past their neighbors who are just there for a quick checkup.

The concept is just in the beginning stages. Before any decisions are made the Hospital’s 10-year financial plan needs to be fully vetted and nailed down — a task that CFO Melanie Van Winkle is currently working to complete.

“First you have to figure out your exact needs as well as how much can be afforded,” Finlayson stated. “But I always like to start with the end in mind.”

Boyd hoped the Board could choose how to move forward with the expansion before the end of the calendar year.