Salida Hospital District Board of Directors met Jan. 28 at Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida for a regular meeting, where they heard from new President John Tucker on electronic health records and his recommendations for updating the system.
The goal, Tucker said, is to have unified electronic health records across all departments in the hospital, as well as creating a patient friendly portal and increase the functionality of all systems.
Options brought up included integrating Epic as the EHR system for the hospital, which would allow the hospital to maintain its independence. Other companies Tucker said the hospital could look at include Meditech and Cerner.
Throughout 2025, the goal for the hospital is to create a committee to review all companies, discuss options, and decide which would be the most efficient for the hospital. The tentative date for the new system to go live would be Jan. 1, 2027.
“I think this is the most critical financial decision this organization will ever make, it’s the most important capital item we’ve ever considered,” Tucker said.
The rough estimate for implementing a new EHR system is between $15 and $30 million.
When discussing financials for the hospital, Karen Miller, chief financial officer, informed the board about the Colorado Healthcare Affordability and Sustainability Enterprise, which collects a provider fee, then matches those dollars four to one and redistributes to participating hospitals.
Miller said approximately half of the hospital’s funds come from the CHASE program, which is now in jeopardy with the newly elected administration.
Tucker said, “With this change in administration in Washington, we’re worried about supplemental programs getting more scrutiny.”
Also discussed were various changes and updates, including the completion of the Delnay Guest House, with the hospital awaiting certificates of occupancy before ordering signage, and the moving of the patient records department to the Salida Health Clinic. Patient records will still be available, for an unspecified amount of time, at the lab window.
The pharmacy remodel is still in progress, as is the wound care expansion.
HRRMC Foundation Director Lezlie Burkley said in her report that there is an executive order, going into effect at 5 p.m. Jan. 28, which freezes federal grants and loans for three months – impacting over 2,600 programs. The executive order does not affect medicare or social security, but does impact things such as free school lunches for students.
As of Jan. 29, that executive order has been rescinded.
The board then adjourned into executive session to discuss risk management and grievance reports.
