The Mississippi County Hospital System is on the lookout for a new full-time surgeon, according to CEO Ralph Beaty's report to the system's board on Wednesday.
Current surgeon Dr. Egbert Rebiero has not been able to perform enough procedures to keep up with the demand and what the system has asked, Beaty said.
"We met with a representative for a physician placement service about another full-time surgeon," Beaty said. "The level of service Dr. Rebiero is providing is not enough to meet our demand. We're going to have to get another full-time person."
Beaty said in news of the system's other physician practices, the hospital system is working on a plan to drive more business to podiatrist Dr. Fred Day, and that Dr. Chimere Ashley's practice has been the most busy.
"All the others are ramping up as well," he said. "We are meeting with them monthly and have been pleasantly pleased at their practice volumes. I met specifically with our OB/GYN and pediatrician practices to work on strategy for them. We have our broadest coverage in that area; the women's center of our hospital is the nicest area in the facility, and we really want to work on promoting women's and children's health care -- those are always the building blocks of a successful health care system. If women are coming to our doctors and bringing their children, the rest of the family is likely to come for their needs as well."
In other physician news, Dr. Jeffrey Hall, who practiced in pain management and served as the hospital's chief of staff, has resigned for a job elsewhere, Beaty said. Hall has been replaced as chief of medical staff with Dr. Sia Shahriari. To replace his pain management practice, Beaty said the system is in talks with Pain Management Group, a system of pain treatment centers. If a deal is reached with them, the company will provide a full-service pain management program, with a full-time physician. Beaty said the end goal would be for the pain management practice to be self-sufficient, but that the system may have to initially offer them an income guarantee.
Patient care quality surveys, which are completed on a monthly basis with the hospital's Medicare patients only, have seen an uptick in scores in several areas, Beaty said. Approximately 84 percent of patients reported that they were given information about their recovery, nearing the national benchmark of 89 percent; 79 percent reported that their pain was always controlled, above the national benchmark of 78 percent; and 83 percent said their nurses always communicated well, with the national benchmark at 85 percent. These surveys are mandated by the Medicare program, and Beaty added that since they only cover a small portion of the hospital's patient population, they are not really a good indicator of overall satisfaction with treatment and care.
In financial news, the system ended the month of June 2013 with a consolidated loss of $120,929. This includes a profit of $212,904 at Great River Medical Center, a loss of $304,997 at South Mississippi County Medical Center and a loss of $28,835 at the system's physician practices.
The board ended the meeting with an executive session to discuss personnel matters, the result of which was an approval of Beaty's annual performance review.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com