DAYTON–The Columbia County Health System (CCHS) Board of Commissioners approved moving forward with a $350,000 medical air, vacuum and oxygen upgrade project.

Previously, the board discussed a project concerning medical air, medical vacuum and upgraded oxygen. It was found to allow for the improvements and upgrades, a new generator would be needed and some work to the electrical system. This advancement to medical air, medical vacuum and oxygen would provide more preparedness for possible COVID hospitalizations. The project would then qualify to use the CARES grant money for the improvements.

According to the Financial Report, CCHS cannot claim any more lost revenue due to COVID because that amount has now been capped by the Health and Human Services. To prevent the CARES funding from becoming a liability, the money has to come out of the operational revenue and has to be spent on an allowable expense. The preliminary constructions costs are $300,000–350,000 for the electrical system, $50,000 for the generator, $150,000 for the Medical Air, $101,000 for the Medical Vacuum, and $50,000 for the oxygen. The Board unanimously approved moving forward to pursue the projects.

The Board also reviewed its Infection Control Policy, specifically in regard to COVID-19, at the September meeting. The Quality Assurance Team reported and Monte Fulbright stated that with the ever-changing understanding of the virus, policies are always changing.

CEO Shane McGuire specified an example of this in the use of ventilators. In the beginning, when the pandemic hit, ventilators were thought to be critical to advanced cases of the virus. But now the medical community knows that their use with the virus can be harsh and they can cause damage or even death. CCHS has developed about 15 new policies to address COVID-19 while others are being developed continually. McGuire said that many of the new policies will be here to stay to protect against germs and infections of all kinds.

The finance report indicated that revenue has been the most normal since COVID hit. Rate of care increases actually brought last month’s revenue over budget. The administrator’s report echoed this, “August continues the trend of returning to normal business volumes and on-budget revenue with a positive variance of $271,000.”

McGuire made a special note that the mental health toll attributable to February flooding, COVID-19 and the fires has put many people in the area “at crisis level.”

“We are experiencing a mental health crisis in our community and State,” said McGuire. “In our community, we have seen an uptick in suicide attempts, yet our behavioral health team’s volumes have not returned to pre-COVID levels. We are working to create marketing and outreach messages. We understand that everybody has been affected by the floods, COVID and fires. This is not just about suicide; however, it tends to be a measure of mental health.”