Pipestone County Medical Center
Governing Board Meeting
Members present: Dallas Roskamp, Dan Wildermuth, Luke Johnson, Doug Nagel, Chris Hollingsworth, Bryan Breitling, Avera Regional Administrator, Sandy Schlechter; COO/CFO, Brad Burris; CEO, and Denise Solma, Executive Assistant.
Meeting was called to order by Chair, Chris Hollingsworth at 1:00 pm.
Agenda was approved with a motion by Wildermuth and 2nd by Nagel.
September 23, 2025 Minutes approved with a motion by Johnson and 2nd by Roskamp. Motion carried.
September 30, 2025 Special Meeting Minutes – approved with a motion by Nagel and 2nd by Wildermuth.
Surgery Donation: Meg DeGroot, Surgery Manager proposed a donation of a 1988 Smith & Nephew Shampaine OR Bed to Minnesota West. This bed has been in storage for quite some time and is no longer up to code. A motion by Wildermuth and 2nd by Nagel approved the donation.
Plant Operations Report – was shared by Pete Swanson, Facility Manager. Bisbee’s will be on site tomorrow to work on the ER sewer line issues. This will shut down the sleeping rooms for a day or so. Wold has gotten word from the state on how to proceed in Dietary. We should be able to get quotes soon. PCMC will be working with Mediacom to get TV/Internet services in the Hospice House rooms. Maintenance will also be fixing some lighting issues for them. Work continues with IT to add more internet access points, and better clarity cameras in the ER. We will be able to reuse the old cameras in other parts of the facility.
Financial Report – shared by Sandy Schlechter; COO/CFO informed the Board that we were down the month of September. Cash on hand was up three days, AR was up two days. ER and outpatient visits were up while Clinic and Home Health visits remain down. A motion from Johnson and 2nd by Roskamp approved the financial report subject to audit.
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 thirty-nine applicants apply for our various openings this month and filled two positions. We had four staff departures: one to other employment, two for personal reasons and one to relocation. Judy shared an update about our two possible lab employees that were to come through the International Staffing program. Unfortunately we did not get the applications filed before the fee was raised to $100,000.00 per locum. An exemption will be filed to see if this can get waived. Hopefully we can proceed in getting them here to Pipestone.
Clinic Update – Amy Nelson, Clinic Director, told the group Physician recruitment continues with a possible candidate coming to Pipestone in mid-December to see our facility. Locums will continue to help fill the holes until a permanent physician is hired. Dr. Verbeek will retire at the end of the year so we are re-evaluating things in our OB/GYN area.
Nursing Report – Jessica Smidt, Chief Nursing Officer brought the Board up to date that new quality projects are starting. A new speech therapist has been hired, and it is going well. This helps out with swallow studies in the stroke procedure protocol. Caring Hands Dental started today in our surgical area. Stryker has requested Laurie Bruns and Meg DeGroot attend their equipment show in Dallas, TX in February. This is an all-expense paid trip to see and learn their equipment. Dr. Lydell will be coming to Pipestone a few more days a week to help with our patient load. October 31st on Main Street will be the Trunk and Treat by our Hospice staff—look for the “Care Bears”. Mark your calendars for November 6th, Hospice will be having an Open House to celebrate being in the top 5% of quality measures by Press Ganey and November 13th is Pie Day to celebrate Home Care and Hospice Month.
Administrator’s Report – Brad Burris shared today Caring Hands Dental Clinic begins their pediatric sedation dentistry service at PCMC. A tentative Sterile Processing Project timeline was shared. Schematic Designing meetings are scheduled for Nov. 12th and Dec. 3rd. Detail design meetings are Jan. 7th, Feb. 4th, Feb. 18th and March 11th. Construction Design April 22nd, May 13th and June 3. Tentative request for bids June 30th, tentative bid due date, July 28th. Affordable Care Act set to open November 1st. Rural Health Transformation Program will open applications on November 5th with awardees to be announced on Dec. 31st.
McKennan Update – Bryan Breitling, Avera Regional Administrator informed the group that Curt Hohman will retire at the end of the year. There is hope that the enrollment date for the Affordable Care Act might be extended, we continue to watch this for updates. Humana and Aetna insurance have been dropped by Avera, now United Health could be next. They have been notified of this possibility unless things change. Government shut down continues, this impacts so many areas, we continue to watch for updates. South Dakota Medicaid will be updating their methodology.
Adjournment – Meeting was adjourned at 2:20 pm with a motion from Johnson and 2nd by Wildermuth.