Northfield Hospital and Clinics Board Meeting Observer ReporT, January 25, 2024

• Executive Summary
• Call to Order
• Regular and Consent Agenda
• Reports
• Executive and Committee Reports
  • CEO Report (Steve Underdahl, President and CEO)
    • This was an overview of information from the previous year. Inflation, workforce issues, the payor mix, and other financial stressors made 2023 a difficult year for our hospital and most community hospitals in the area. Some things that were done in 2023 to try to deal with this financial strain include:
      • Expanding some programs and shrinking or eliminating others
      • Rebalancing cash, investments and debt
      • Developing digital services structures and plans– making the hospital easier to choose and use
      • Updating the vision statement
      • Improving the scope of practice for acute care (more telemedicine services so more patient care can happen at the hospital instead of sending patients elsewhere).
      • Developing a new workforce plan that adapts to new pressures and demands.
      • Opening up a new mental health facility in Faribault.
    • The 2024 strategy will be to control costs while growing services and revenues.
    • There is a need for working on retaining senior staff as mentors for new staff coming to the hospital. Staff are burning out and retiring or reducing workloads. Patient needs are increasingly difficult including people that are violent and threatening. The need for experienced and trained senior staff is great. What can the hospital do to retain senior staff?
  • Financial Report (Eric Guth, CFO)
    • December 2023 showed good net revenue, but operating losses continue (488K). There are still lingering costs related to the closing of the Lonsdale Clinic and the Long Term Care Center. Employee health claims were up significantly including a number of very large claims.
    • 2024 focuses will be:
      • Present a balanced budget for approval
      • Use conservative estimates
      • Evaluate often to see if quick financial interventions are necessary.
    • The 2024 budget was presented and the committee voted on it and it passed unanimously
      • Revenue 137,750 M
      • Expenses 137,715 M
• Announcements
• At this point in the meeting there was a break before the board met in a Closed Session to discuss “marketing activity related to the hospital’s competitive position with other health care providers that offer similar services.” All non board members were asked to leave.

Respectfully submitted by observer Anne Larson.