Castle Rock Hospital District’s financial health continues to improve, with the district $150,000 higher than it was at this time last year.
“We’re doing well by any measure,” Chief Financial Officer Todd Toolson said during the district board of trustees meeting Tuesday night.
Toolson said the hospital district’s days of cash on hand, a measure of funding reserves calculating how long the district could survive without any income, are expected to be at 67 days by the end of April, the district’s slowest month. The district recently started using the same formula used by Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County to calculate its reserves, which Toolson said are projected to increase to 132 days of cash on hand at the end of May. The fluctuation is caused by the cyclical nature of care provided at the Castle Rock Clinic.
Another reason the district is doing better than last year is it doesn’t have Castle Rock Rehabilitation Center on its books as it was taken over recently by Mission Health Services of Utah, which has operated the facility since 2014. The district saved $90,000 as a result of Mission taking ownership of the building.
Another area the district has seen a slight increase in is its lab services. Toolson said the lab has financially struggled recently, but earned $28,000 more than the budgeted profits expected for March. Toolson said that increase came as a result of the recent health fair the district hosted, saying district’s lab would have been on budget for earnings without the boost provided from the health fair.
Phone, internet outage
Last Wednesday, the phone and internet connections for CRHD went offline for several hours. According to Toolson, the incident was caused by firewall software used to protect the hospital district’s computer systems.
“We shut down completely, everyone shuts down without internet,” Toolson said.
The company responsible for the phone and internet services for the hospital district is working to make sure the problem doesn’t occur again and plans to send a WiFi hotspot for use in emergencies. Toolson admits the hot spot isn’t the best backup for internet because the speeds are much lower and connectivity is limited to the room the hot spot device is in, but can be useful all the same.
Lactation consulting
Dr. Connie Fauntleroy said two nurses recently received certification to work as lactation consultants for CRHD. Dr. Fauntleroy said the consultations can be set up through appointment with other newborn care provided at the clinic.
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