FIRST ON 3: Pender Co. Board of Health Chairman gives state-of-the-department update

THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS RELEASE FROM THE PENDER COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH:

The Pender County Board of Health Chairman Terri King announced today that the Board has embarked on an effort aimed at total quality improvement of operations at the Pender County Health Department. The Board has statutory authority as the policy-making, rule-making and adjudicatory body for the health department. The department has been in the news recently with numerous issues having a negative impact on an agency that sees thousands of clients annually. Public Health is all about prevention and keeping the community healthy. To that end Chairman King noted many improvements over the past several months and offered a peek into the future for a troubled department striving for excellence.

Chairman King acknowledged significant improvement in the overall health department operations since Interim Health Director Wayne Raynor joined the department under contract on October 7, 2010. The primary focus of Mr. Raynor’s efforts is to continue to improve on the financial operations of the department while conducting an overall operational assessment and making improvements within the current health department budget. Raynor recently reported hundreds of unbilled services which totaled approximately $200,000 in back billings for some clinic areas. He appointed a “back billing” team and hired a private billing contractor two months ago to identify and correct billing problems. These revenues are now coming in and will greatly improve the department’s bottom line moving into a new budget year. Raynor also restructured the health department laboratory operations which resulted in $25,000 in annual savings. Chairman King said that additional savings will be achieved once Raynor renegotiates some supply contracts, lab support contracts, and fully implements the clinical operations management plan. “It’s just a matter of working smarter and being more efficient and having a system that works well Raynor told Chairman King.”

The entire Board of Health has expressed their confidence in the fact that the health department has made considerable progress since October 2010. The Board understands that staff has been working hard in a dysfunctional system and there is a need to make systematic changes to improve services. They further believe the addition of a new finance position will be an asset to the department and provide the much needed financial expertise to meet the accountability and reporting requirements of county management.

Chairman King expressed the Board’s interest in doing what’s best for the residents of Pender County from a Public Health perspective and being good stewards of county resources. The Board’s focus is on getting the department’s budget in order, looking at ways to prepare for a tough budget year, and improving services to the public. In addition to these improvements King said Raynor is also exploring ways to cut cost and improve services. King said some of these ideas are already taking shape and will be implemented in the near future. These include posting county restaurant grades on the county website for viewing by the general public and developing an online Improvement Permit Process to speed up septic tank approvals for residents. The department is already moving toward a centralized billing office to better manage its billing and to maximize revenues.

Phase one of the operational assessment, including a study of patient flow in the clinics and looking at ways to reduce waiting time and see more clients, is nearing completion. Health Department clinical and support staff attended a two day training held by our State Nursing Consultants last week. The staff is excited and ready to implement the new system to help everyone better manage their time and make the department more effective and efficient.

Phase two, due to be completed in March, will involve moving some offices in the clinic areas and grouping similar services. The department is also studying the cost to implement a new Document Management System that will eventually lead to an Electronic Medical Records system. Both these will facilitate the destruction of old records, free up space and allow clinical staff to more quickly document medical records. Obviously some of these changes will carry over into the new budget year beginning July 1, 2011.

Chairman King said these are exciting times for the health department and the citizens of Pender County that count on the much needed services provided. The Board of Health is very pleased with the progress made to date and looks forward to the future of enhanced public health services in Pender County.