Northfield Hospital and Clinics Board Meeting Observer Report from January 30th, 2025
l. Executive Summary
Jessica Peterson White has joined the board and Rhonda Pownell is no longer on the board after serving her term. The rest of the board stays the same.
ll. Call to Order
lll. Regular and Consent Agenda
lV. Reports
V. Presentations/Discussions/Action Items
- Digital services update (Vern Lougheed, Director of IT/ITS)
- Since the strategic plan in 2023 digital services are a priority. Technology is replacing facilities as a primary capital investment. A goal is to make NH+C easy to choose for patients. This is trending in general in healthcare. Lots is changing fast. To get customer loyalty you need more than great service– you need to have it convenient, quick, and easy.
- In Northfield, we are a “David between 2 Goliaths” (Allina and Mayo). We need to use size to our advantage. Convenience will help us stand out.
- Cyber security needs to be a priority– increasing threats
- We can’t leave people that don’t have access to technology behind.
- Change takes commitment from everyone. Consumers want to pay online, check in online, sign up for appointments online.
- NH+C has done a lot of investment into technology.
What’s next:
- A new strategic plan
- Better understanding of consumer needs
- Automation of repetitive tasks
- Focus on virtual nursing and distance care
- Talk to each department and find out what their needs are– get buy in from staff
- Share information with other health care organizations and use measurement data to learn from each other. How to use the data effectively.
Trends
- Putting patient information into their own hands
- Portals going away in favor of sending information directly to devices
- AI opportunities increasing (such as saving places in line, making/canceling appointments, automatic note taking during appointments)
VI. Executive and Committee Reports
- CEO Report (Zander Abbott, CEO)
- Michael Hemesath is now the Board Chair
- Dr. Jennifer Fischer is now the Medical Staff President
- Thanked the board and Steve Underdahl (previous CEO) for a smooth first 9 days on the job. Emphasized that he appreciated the quality of service provided at NH+C and the focus on safety.
Upcoming goals:
- Repurpose the long term care space
- Recruit a new Chief Operating Officer– currently evaluating the position and will soon begin recruitment.
- Work on 2025 Strategic Plan
- Start building some interdisciplinary teams
- Make sure the budget includes compensation adjustments and benefits that will keep talent here
- Engage with other rural healthcare CEOs and continue developing a network of peers
- Will go to AHA Rural Healthcare Conference
- Financial Report (Eric Guth, CFO)
- There was a 5.3 million dollar loss for the year. This was better than last year which was an 11.4 million dollar loss.
- There was a 10 percent increase in births at the hospital last year.
- December was a busy month, but still not enough income coming in.
- Staff stability has been a challenge. We are losing good people to competition and have to keep retraining new people.
- 2025 budget focus:
- Continue momentum towards balancing the budget
- Generate more income
- Work on cash flow management
- Reinvest in property and equipment
- Keep care local
- Improve collection speed
- Monitor new payor contracts
- Proposed budget:
- Revenue 140, 041
- Expenses 139, 237
- This budget was put to a vote of the Board and passed with unanimous approval.
- Verbal Budget and Finance Committee report (Fred Rogers)
- This committee spent time going over the budget.
VII. Roundtable/Announcements/Questions (Michael Hemesath, Board Chair)
- Welcomed Zander Abbott and thanked him for uprooting his family to come mid school year to be the new CEO.
Respectfully submitted by observer Anne Larson.
