NRMC opens less-urgent care clinic as alternative to ER

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Regional Medical Center approved the purchase of a new 3D mammogram and 64-slice CT Scan unit for the hospital.

The current mammogram at NRMC is nine years old, and the hospital's CT requires an upgrade of dosing alerts.

Chief Financial Officer, Mike Harbor led the discussion about the new units. He said he originally was looking for a new mammogram unit, but when he found out a CT unit could be paired with the mammogram it was a more-than-suitable offer.

A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast and is often used to detect early signs of breast cancer. A CT scan is a special X-ray machine, which produces cross-section images.

Over the first 18 months, NRMC will be responsible for paying $5,524 a month, or $66,288 annually -- $4,308 less than the hospital pays for their current CT and mammogram units monthly.

CEO Kevin Leeper told the board how excited he is to have the new equipment. "This is a great opportunity," he said. "The latest, greatest technology here in Nevada."

After 18 months, the cost of the X-ray machines will increase to an annual cost of $104,405

During the CEO's report, Leeper said a new clinic, Nevada Regional Primary Care Center, will be accepting appointments starting Wednesday, Sept. 30. The new clinic will be open five days a week and will serve as a less-urgent care center. The clinic is located at 627 S. Ash St.

"We wanted to be near the ER [emergency room], so non-urgent patients can go there," Leeper said.

During the CFO's report, Harbor said the numbers in August's financial report were down. Harbor reported the hospital lost a net income of $172,379 -- 39.4 percent higher than the loss last year.

There was however, a slight upside during the "summer slowdown" the report said. Harbor's report showed $32,757 in non-operating Revenues, a 74.3 percent variance from 2014's August.

Overall, Harbor said of the report, "We feel like September will be a better month," Harbor said. "We need to maintain expenses. At the end of the day, we're doing fine. We are still above budget. This was nothing real exciting. In September cash has picked up already."

Other items approved at the hospital board meeting were, nuclear medicine equipment with a spending budget of $50,000, item was approved unanimously. A new contract with the Center for Improvement in Health Care Quality accrediting agency was approved unanimously as CIHQ transitions to align with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.