Members present: Luke Johnson, Doug Nagel, Dallas Roskamp, Chris Hollingsworth, Dan Wildermuth, Erica Peterson, Vice President Partner Operations, Sandy Schlechter; COO/CFO, Brad Burris; CEO, and Denise Solma, Executive Assistant.
Meeting was called to order by Chairman, Luke Johnson at 1:00pm.
Agenda was approved by Hollingsworth and 2°d by Wildermuth with the correction we will not have any Medical Staff appointments or Reappointments.
August 25, 2026, Minutes were approved with a motion by Hollingsworth and 2’d by Nagel.
Meeting Locations- It has come to our attention that Rock Steady Boxing is wanting to expand with more equipment. With sharing the location with a meeting room, it was discussed if we need to dedicate the entire room to Rock Steady. At this time, it was decided to have the room remain functional for both Rock Steady Boxing and a conference room.
Plant Operations Report-Pete Swanson, Facility Manager, gave an update that the Medical Oxygen bids are to be completed by September 3, 2026. The A-Ox company is already affiliated vendor of Avera, so we hope things will go smoothly for us. IT is lining up with the servers. The chiller in the roof top unit two has failed, repairs are pending along with some duct work changes. Maintenance continues working on maintenance repairs of the PCMC owned homes. The list of phone numbers and locations is completed; Pete will work now to get supplies ordered and work completed.
Maintenance is working on getting quotes for a new water softener as one of ours has failed.
Financial Report- by Sandy Schlechter; COO/CFO shared with the Board that July was down. Cash on hand is up, gross days were also up. ER visits along with Outpatients remain up and Clinic visits are down. Eide Bally was on site at PCMC August 18-21, all information needs to be handed in by Sept 10, 2026, to finish cost reports on time. Betty Anderson retires today, please stop and wish her well. A motion from Roskamp and 2’d by Wildermuth approved the financial report subject to audit.
Human Resources Monthly Report-Judy Raschke, HR Director shared PCMC is currently looking for eighteen people to fill our current positions. For the month of July, we had sixty-three applicants for various openings and filled two positions.
Two staff members left PCMC, one resignation and one termination.
Clinic Update-Amy Nelson, Clinic Manager, was unable to attend.
Nursing Report-Jessica Smidt, Chief Nursing Officer, let us know that Hailey Gaunt has put in her resignation and will be returning to work in Luverne, MN. Carmen Fey will remain on to help out a couple of days a week. Epic and Avera personnel will be onsite Sept 8th to work with Managers on Epic issues. Radiology and Nursing will be having some staffing issues as they work thru those out on maternity leave. Home Health had two minor issues that came up in their State Survey. The corrections have been made, and we now wait for State approval for the corrections.
Just a reminder that PCMC Disaster Drill will be on September 28th, focusing on our network being down. The drill will start at 2:00pm.
Pipestone County Medical Center Governing Board Meeting September 22, 2026
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Administrator’s Report-Brad Burris shared Epic will focus on EMR stabilization, followed by more months of optimization. We have some revenue issues where charges have not dropped in ER, Lab, and Ortho clinic. While other charges that are not ours such as radiology reads have dropped at PCMC. These issues are currently being worked through. Operating Room/Sterile Processing Project will have a special meeting on August 27th at 2:00pm in the Clinic Conference Room. Journey will present the upgraded budget/cost estimate based on the bids received. The projected construction start date is October 19th. Affordable Care Act/Medicaid estimates a reduction in ACA enrollment of 17-26% with a corresponding 2.9-6.5% increasing sickness. Coupled with impending Medicaid cuts, we anticipated increased financial impact/pressure going forward.
McKennan Update- Erica Peterson, Vice President Partner Operations, informed the group that Avera has received four Rural transformation grants. Avera now works on how they should be implemented. Some rural locations in SD and IA are implementing Wellness Pantry’s. This is a bag of groceries that can be given to someone who doesn’t have the funds for food, and it is hindering recovery/health. Erica is working on the Partners and Protection Meeting for October 19th. The morning meetings are dedicated to Cyber Security, and afternoon discussion will be on Global/Insurance- Malpractice.
Please mark your calendars or share the date with colleagues. The Women’s and Children’s area completion is running ahead of schedule. This is welcome news.