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Brookings Health System Board of Trustees
Minutes of Meeting
Monday, April 28, 2025
The Brookings Health System Board of Trustees held a meeting at the Brookings Hospital in the Board
Room with the following members present: Lynn Darnall, David Meyer, Sheila Anderson, Jenn Barlund,
Shelby Eischens, Tracy Greene, Don Greiner, and David Jones. Ex-officio: Brianna Doran and Dave
Miller
Absent: Mary Anne Krogh
Management Present: Jason Merkley, CEO; Tammy Hillestad, CNO; Melissa Wagner, CFO and Sheri
Wiig, recorder
TOUR
Hospital Board members toured the new Yorkshire Medical Building at 5:00 p.m.
President Darnall called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m.
INVITED GUEST
McKenzie Nielsen, RN/Clinical Informaticist, presented an overview of Epic. Epic Systems (Epic) is a
leading provider of electronic health record (EHR) software used by several healthcare organizations
(3,620 hospitals across the United States) to manage patient records, streamline workflows, and improve
clinical decision-making. It integrates various aspects of healthcare, including scheduling, billing,
telemedicine, and analytics, to facilitate seamless care delivery. Epic's robust capabilities will greatly
improve efficiency in many areas and include the integration of HIPAA compliant ambient listening.
Brookings Health System will be upgrading to Epic in June of 2026.
Nielsen provided a demonstration of Freed AI, an artificial intelligence software used by clinicians.
Freed’s AI Scribe is a revolutionary medical documentation tool that uses state-of-the-art artificial
intelligence to streamline clinical workflows. The intelligent assistant listens, transcribes, and converts a
patient conversation into comprehensive notes. BHS providers utilize Freed AI today through a copy and
paste option into Meditech Expanse.
Nielsen was thanked for her informational presentation, and exited the meeting at 6:15 p.m.
AGENDA
A motion was made by Barlund, seconded by Greiner to approve the agenda. All present voted in favor;
motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA
A motion was made by Anderson, seconded by Eischens to approve the following consent agenda items:
March 31, 2025 Board of Trustees meeting minutes, March 31, 2025 Finance committee meeting minutes,
March 16, 2025 Medical Executive committee meeting minutes, and March 2025 Financials. Total
payables in March $3,516,655.21. All present voted in favor; motion carried.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
Articles of interest included: “Area Rural Hospitals Achieve National Distinction:, Midwest Medical
Edition; “Medicaid work requirements redux”, Managed Healthcare Executive; “IRA drug price
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negotiation under Trump: Second set of drugs named”, Managed Healthcare Executive; and, “Time.
Talent, and Treasure: Meyers Make a Difference at State”, 2024 Stately Review.
REPORTS
Executive Reports
CEO Report
Merkley noted staff will be recognized and celebrated during the National 2025 Hospital & Nursing
Home Week in May; each year, this celebration recognizes the dedicated healthcare personnel who
provide quality care every day. Merkley also commented on the positive scores from the recent employee
engagement survey. Results are reflective of the impactful work done over the last eighteen (18) months.
CFO Report
Wagner highlighted dollar amounts, interest rates and payoff dates for Certificates of Participation (COPs)
used for building projects. Wagner also shared positive optimizations within Workday for accounts
payable utilizing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) from scanned images which help to improve
efficiency.
CNO Report
Hillestad commented on Brookings Health System’s future participation in the Mission: Lifeline Stroke, a
national American Heart Association initiative. “Get with the Guidelines” is an in-hospital program for
improving stroke care by promoting consistent adherence to the latest scientific treatment guidelines to
improve outcomes for stroke patients. Hillestad also noted that Karen Weber, Emergency Department
Director, is involved in the International Healthcare Committee/Taskforce, a local group formed to assist
foreign individuals/students. Current focus is on immigrant fears due to government deportation efforts.
Board Committee Reports
Administrative Committee Meeting
Vice President Meyer provided a report; the Administrative Committee met on April 22nd. Topics of
discussion included Yorkshire Medical Building Schedule/Move, Workday/Epic, Brookings Childcare
Collaborative, SD Department of Health Recertification Survey, Health/Ancillary Benefits RFP,
Employee Engagement Survey, Influenza Vaccination Rates, and Brookings Merger-Economic
Development Entities.
Finance Committee
Committee Chair Greiner provided a report; the Finance Committee met on April 22nd. The committee
reviewed and approved March 2025 payables, adjustments and financials. Total salaries and wages for
March were $2,481,065. Other topics of discussion included a Cash Flow Update and Downstream
Revenue Report.
Quality Committee
Committee members provided a report; the Quality Committee met on April 22nd. Invited guest, Jennifer
Mendel, CRNA, presented an overview of her study and performance improvement project on GLP-1
medications and their relation to complications in the surgical setting. Invited guest, Ashley Norgaard,
Quality Specialist, provided a report on CMS Sepsis measure protocols and positive scores at Brookings
Health compared to state and national. Other topics of discussion included the Cardiac Connected Care
Project and the Department of Health Recertification Survey.
NEW BUSINESS
Medical Staff Credentialing
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Merkley provided a review of provider credentialing. A motion was made by Eischens, seconded by
Meyer to approve all credentialing as recommended by the Medical Executive Committee. All present
voted in favor; motion carried.
Upon motion by Meyer, second by Greene, the meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Motion carried
unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
_____________________________________
David Meyer, Vice President