Board votes to raise convalescent rates


Excelsior Springs Hospital CEO Sally Nance took members of the hospital’s board of trustees on a tour Monday afternoon, explaining several areas that are being renovated to update the older part of the hospital and increase efficiency for both employees and patients. (Photo by Eric Copeland)

By ERIC COPELAND
Managing Editor

The Excelsior Springs Hospital Board of Trustees voted unanimously Monday afternoon to increase rates for the Convalescent Center starting Oct. 1.
Rates were also increased slightly last year, and hospital officials review the rates each year, comparing them to rates charged at similar facilities throughout the area.
Long-term convalescent care rates are expected to rise 1.5 percent on Oct. 1, and residential care rates will increase by the same amount. Independent Living rates will climb by 3 percent.
The rates are still competitive with or less than rates at other nursing homes. Board members said they planned to notify the families of Convalescent Center residents about the increases no later than the beginning of August, so they would have 60 days to decide whether to maintain residency there or move their loved ones to another facility.
The board also voted unanimously to re-appoint two members—one of whom was going to be ineligible for re-appointment due to term limits.
In the past, the board’s members were limited to two terms. However, hospital CEO Sally Nance, City Manager David Haugland and Mayor Carolyn Schutte are unsure where that requirement came from, and most other city boards and commissions have no similar term limit requirements.
Ann Curty Case was due to be re-appointed, but Ed Duncan had already served his two terms. However, the motion made Monday afternoon—which was endorsed by the vote—was to re-appoint both. Along with that, the motion also suggests that guidelines be changed to remove the term limits imposed on board members.
Nance said as far as she knew, the Excelsior Springs City Council was not insistent upon term limits. There are good points and bad when it comes to such term limits, she said. While term limits enforce the idea of getting new faces and new opinions on the board, they also sometimes eliminate good, strong, experienced board members when they still have much to offer.
She said term limits can also be a way to calm disputes on the board, as older members are removed and new ones replace them. However, she and board members noted that many times, board members who have such problems depart the board of their own volition after their terms are up.
After Monday’s meeting, the board toured some areas of the hospital, both old and new, as Nance explained some ongoing renovations.
Now that the new outpatient and wellness clinic addition and the MRI addition are complete, the older portions of the hospital are getting a facelift as well.
Many of the hallways and rooms in the older sections of the facility have already gotten new floor tiles, and where ceiling tiles have not yet been replaced, that is also planned. The hospital rooms themselves are also getting some improvements, with new vanities and other features already added and new furniture and other cosmetic improvements still to come.
Nance also showed the board the room where the nuclear science lab and other equipment, as well as a new waiting room, will be installed in the new MRI building on the hospital’s campus. A construction permit for the project is expected to be approved within a matter of weeks, and the work will be completed this year.

Back Snack aims to feed ESSD kids

By ERIC COPELAND
Managing Editor

When school starts in a few weeks, many children will have their breakfasts and lunches provided to them during the school day.
But for families struggling to meet their everyday needs, some youngsters may not get nutritious meals on the weekends. The Northland Childhood Hunger Fund is trying to change that.
The Back Snack program provides healthy snacks for those children to take home with them every weekend. Packed handily into a backpack, that little extra bit of nutrition can make all the difference when it comes to promoting a child’s success in school.
Locally, a coalition of volunteers is helping to promote the program by matching up donors with children who might benefit from Back Snacks. For $200 per year—or just about $17 per month—a child can take home a backpack full of snacks every weekend during the school year.
To make the program work, the Northland Childhood Hunger Fund has partnered with Harvesters Community Food Network. When the program was adopted by the Northland Community Foundation last year, Harvesters was providing backpacks to about 1,000 children throughout the Northland. The extra boost provided by the additional partner—not to mention the support of donors—the program has been expanded to 1,700 children.
But more must be done. It’s estimated that as many as 3,400 children in the Northland are considered to be “food insecure,” meaning that the financial pressures in their homes prevent them from having nutritious food available all the time.
Expanding Back Snack to cover the rest of the Northland means extending the program from 26 elementary schools in Clay and Platte counties to a total of 57 schools. It also means educating Northland residents about the need right in their own communities, and how they can help.
Excelsior Springs Mayor Carolyn Schutte serves on the Northland Childhood Hunger Fund Steering Committee. She’s attempting to get Excelsior Springs residents, organizations and businesses involved early enough that the Back Snack program can start the school year off right, providing healthy snacks to all the local children who need them. Her fellow committee members—Bob Pearson, Jamie V. Cummings, Chris Donnelli, Kelley Martin and Malcolm Wilson, plus co-chairs Fred Mitchell and Michael Short—are doing the same thing in other communities throughout the Northland.
All contributions to the program are tax-deductible. Donation forms are available from Schutte, who operates the Edward Jones office in the Vintage commercial development, or you can make an online donation at www.gkccf.org. Click on “give” in the top line, then on the third box on the left side of the page, “contribute to a fund.” Scroll down to the “N” listings and click on “Northland Childhood Hunger Fund,” then scroll down to the bottom of the page and fill in the form provided.

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