Hospital administrators to move to new office suite

MOSES LAKE - Samaritan Healthcare will move all administrative offices to the second floor of the hospital, a project that is projected to cost about $600,000. Hospital board members approved the project during the regular board meeting.

The money was included in the 2012 budget, said public information specialist Connie Opheikens. The new office suite should be completed in about 90 days, she said.

All administrative offices will be moved to the new suite, including the chief of the medical staff and the director of nursing; both currently are housed in separate buildings, Opheikens said. The office suite will be housed in a portion of the second floor that was not being used, she said.

In other business, the board approved purchase of a new ultrasound machine and a camera that uses medical isotopes in its imaging.

Chief financial officer Tom Legel reported the hospital has a $3,069,196 profit for the year to date, although it suffered a small loss in August.

Legel said hospital utilization is down from 2011. Legel told the board some of that is due to people delaying elective procedures and some to changes in Medicare reimbursement. More Medicare patients are considered under observation, Opheikens said.