Haxtun Health's infrastructure upgades complete

The infrastructure project at Haxtun Health is wrapping up and administration and board members are prepping to continue strategic planning in the coming weeks. Chief Executive Officer Dewane Pace said with the installation of the new roof, the infrastructure project is now done.

Pace recently outlined the end of the project to Haxtun Health board members in a Monday night, Sept. 26 meeting in the upstairs meeting room of the Extended Care Unit.

The hospital was built in 1962 and opened in 1963, Pace said, adding that much of the infrastructure has remained unchanged and untouched for the past 60 years. With grant dollars from the Department of Local Affairs, and a check from insurance for hail damages as use of matching funds, Haxtun Health has been able to put nearly $4 million of infrastructure improvements into the facility.

Pace said the facility now has new boilers, chillers, heating, air conditioning, lighting, ceilings, electrical and plumbing upgrades. He said throughout the project, while closing some areas for construction, crews took time to do some cosmetic improvements as well such as new paint and flooring.

“I use the analogy of putting a new engine into an old truck; cosmetically on the outside you don’t notice the change but internally you have a brand-new engine that should keep things going for many years to come,” Pace said.

Now that the infrastructure project at the main campus is complete, Pace said plans are moving forward for more strategic planning. The Board and key players at Haxtun Health plan to meet later in October to take an in-depth look at Haxtun Health’s strategic plan.

“We have completed our three-year goal, in two years, and we need to set new three-year goals and take a look at our long-range goals as well,” Pace said.

In her Chief Nursing Officer report, Lea White updated board members on recent salary changes in the nursing department. She said in an effort to recruit new staff and retain loyal staff, administration recently completed an analysis of all area hospitals and nursing homes to see how Haxtun Health stacked up in pay. Following that analysis, Haxtun Health made the decision to increase wages across the board for the nursing department in hopes to remain competitive.

White said Haxtun Health has five full-time RN/LPN openings and one full-time CNA opening. She said she recently hired one LPN in the ECU and has two interviews for RNs scheduled.

In her report, White also gave numbers on ambulance calls from Aug. 18 through Sept. 20, noting there were 21 calls. That is an increase in 17 from the month before. Of those 21 calls, she said 15 were 911 calls; 10 of those went to Haxtun Health and five refused transport. Four of the monthly calls were interfacility transfers and two were flight crew transports.

Chief of Staff Dr. Ben Stephenson told the Board that Jimmy Giang, Gastroenterologist, is a provider who was recently credentialed. He said he is excited at the prospect of bringing Dr. Giang on staff and providing GI servings at Haxtun.

In his monthly COVID update, Stephenson said the overall Colorado positivity rate is 5.13 percent and Phillips County is at 5.9 percent. Those numbers, he added, are coming down from a spike in July.

Haxtun Health is currently offering the fourth booster vaccine, which is targeted against the omicron variant.

Stephenson also noted that Sarah Tischer, Nurse Practitioner, submitted her resignation and her last day will be Nov. 22. He said the addition of Reba Bean, PA, to the provider list and the call that she plans to take will give time to be methodical in replacing Tischer.