Hospital officials discuss audit findings

PORTALES — Tuesday’s Roosevelt General Hospital Board of Trustees meeting featured a mixed bag of financial information.

Chief Financial Officer Bill Boyer told the board of three findings on the hospital’s 2016 audit: Some funds were placed in the wrong accounts, certain purchases over $500 were not approved by the board, and the hospital was late on its audit.

Boyer added that RGH should have its 2017 audit completed by the end of the year, meaning the hospital will no longer be behind on its audits.

He also reported that RGH has “pretty well turned a corner,” with a positive operating margin of $117,000 in February.

Chief Executive Officer Kaye Green said the hospital released its new compensation model and signed contracts under the model with all of its physicians.

“(The new contracts) will begin on July 1 and run through June 30 of 2019,” Green said. “It better aligns the compensation to the actual work produced, and it aligns incentives and gets us back to a fair market value range.”

Also at Tuesday’s meeting:

• The board approved a contract with accounting firm Dingus, Zarecor and Associates for auditing services through 2020.

Boyer recommended RGH retain the firm because it had conducted several of the hospital’s previous audits.

“We would be better off to stay with them, to get ’18 going, and after we do ’18, ’19 and ’20 with them, we have to find a new firm, because six years is the most we can have without changing firms,” he said.

• The board approved a resolution restating that the Roosevelt County Commission would give RGH part of its gross receipts tax to support construction at the hospital through the year 2037.

• Credentials for one new emergency doctor were approved.

• Green also reported that a contract had been developed that grants RGH a 30 percent discount for any services it may need from Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis.

The services should take affect in 60 days, Green said.