Pipestone County Medical Center
Governing Board Meeting
November 25, 2025
Members present: Dallas Roskamp, Dan Wildermuth, Luke Johnson, Chris Hollingsworth, Doug Nagel, Bryan Breitling, Avera Regional Administrator, Sandy Schlechter; COO/CFO, Brad Burris; CEO, and Denise Solma, Executive Assistant.
Meeting was called to order by Chairman, Chris Hollingsworth at 1:00 pm.
Agenda was approved with a motion by Wildermuth and 2nd by Nagel with the notation of added Credentialing from Radiology and ER Telemedicine.
September 23, 2025 Minutes approved with a motion by Johnson and 2nd by Roskamp. Motion carried.
Plant Operations Report – was shared by Pete Swanson, Facility Manager. Wold has updated items on paint samples/quote for the walls. Still waiting on information from Wold in preparation to repair sewer lines in Dietary. Sewer lines above ER also need repair. Working with Bisbee’s to find a date/time they can come in to repair. Hospice House lighting upgrade is still being accomplished while TV hook ups have been finished with Mediacom. Lab’s tube system has been working well after the software upgrades were completed.
Financial Report – shared by Sandy Schlechter; COO/CFO informed the Board that we had a good month. Gross charges are up along with ER, Swing Bed and Outpatient visits. Clinic and Home Health visits still remain down. A motion from Johnson and 2nd by Roskamp approved the financial report subject to audit.
Medical Staff Appointments /Reappointments – were reviewed by Brad Burris. A Motion by Wildermuth, 2nd by Nagel approved the three listings. Motion carried.
Human Resources Monthly Report – was shared by Judy Raschke, HR Director. She informed us that we are currently seeking to find individuals for sixteen positions at PCMC. We had forty-nine applicants apply for our various openings this month and filled two positions. We had two staff departures: one to other employment and one to relocation. Judy shared with us, we still wait to hear information on possible international employees. She will keep us posted if we have any changes.
Clinic Update – Amy Nelson, Clinic Director, told the group a future Physician visit is on the horizon. Locums will help fill the holes until a permanent physician can be hired. Morgan Mach, our new Ortho Practitioner is being orientated in Sioux Falls with a hopeful start for Pipestone sometime after the first of the year. Clinic is working hard as the deadline for ACO (Medicare A & B participants) comes to a close to complete the required Wellness visits. A Clinic all Staff Meeting was recently held with the topic of ADIET…ways to improve patient satisfaction. This was a great review for staff to remind them patient satisfaction is so important.
Nursing Report – Jessica Smidt, Chief Nursing Officer informed us the PFT machines – (pulmonary function machines) have arrived. Work continues to tweak/improve the architectural plans for surgery. Laurie Bruns and Meg DeGroot will travel to Texas after the first of the year to see the Stryker equipment in person. Staff continues to work hard on the quality updates for patients to have a good experience while at PCMC…we hope to be in the 75% percentile. Epic Super User training is being set. Sara Nelson from the PCMC Lab will be retiring after 39 years today… feel free to stop and congratulate her.
Administrator’s Report – Brad Burris shared the Affordable Care Act is being discussed by Congress regarding the possible extension of ACA health insurance subsidies. The Minnesota Department of Health applied for $1 billion dollars over five years, a grant from the Rural Health Transformation Program, more to come on this. Rock Steady Boxing received a $1500.00 grant from the Pipestone Area Community Foundation. PCMC receives the Chartis Performance Leadership Award for Patient Perspective.
McKennan Update – Bryan Breitling, Avera Regional Administrator informed the group that Curt Hohman will be retiring. There are some get togethers in the works. He will share information as soon as things have been finalized. Avera is changing their incident reporting software to Risk Connect…they will be doing this earlier than expected as they want in place before going live with Epic. Hawarden, IA and a few other facilities will be making the switch to Avera partnering sites. This is exciting, we look forward to seeing who sends letters of intent.
Adjournment – Meeting was adjourned at 2:54 pm with a motion from Johnson and 2nd by Wildermuth.