Clarendon Health System Chief Executive Officer Richard Stokes updated the Board of Trustees Tuesday evening during their regular meeting.
"Last year we gave market based raises to RNs (registered nurses)," he said. At the beginning of this year, raises spread to the dietary department and environmental services as well.
"We're going to systematically step through the hospital because we can't take the financial hit all at once to do everybody at once," he said.
Chief Operating Officer Paul Schumacher detailed all the work needed to replace a power transfer switch as it was worn out and could've possibly failed to transfer power to emergency generators in the event of a power outage. Schumacher said there were weeks of meeting to coordinate what ultimately took four separate transfers of power to complete the task.
Two more non-critical switches have been identified as neeing replacement, which should happen later this year or early next year, he said.
Stokes said the hospital was visited recently by representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as an emissary from Sen. Lindsey Graham's office.
"Basically our job was to impress upon Senator Graham's office the need for continued U.S.D.A. funds," as a rural healthcare provider, Stokes said, calling it a "really good visit."
"They were impressed and we couldn't praise the U.S.D.A. enough," Chairman Don Ellis said.
Stokes said they were "very happy to hear we made a profit last year."
Stokes also updated board members on the recent Chamber of Commerce Retreat in Savannah.
"There's a pent-up anticipation that something good is going to happen in Clarendon County," he said, and would-encourage business and community leaders to think along those lines. "I'm really hopeful 2015 will be a better year for the community at large."
