School kids having a rough time.
Even as I type this, my throat is tight and sore, my chest hurts, and I feel as though I’m running on empty. Last week 498 students from the 4 Demopolis Public Schools missed school due to flu-type symptoms. What’s so alarming about the apparent epidemic is not the number of people affected as much as the speed at which it seems to spread through casual contact. The elderly are especially at risk. They have a higher chance of being hospitalized or even dying from a case of the flu due to weakened immune systems. The best way to avoid the spread of the flu is through good hand washing. Avoiding crowded areas can also be helpful. If possible avoid pubic items such as telephones and water fountains, or anything that may be exposed to someone’s mouth area.
Hospital gives out some numbers.
The first quarter of the fiscal year at B.W.W.M.H. has the hospital in the hole for $548,571. According to Charles Nabors, they would break even except for indigent care and bad debt, which account for $257,000 and $258,000 respectively. Nabors also states that he will switch all bad debts to indigent care one the “investigation into each claim” is completed. If this is consistent every quarter, the hospital will cost the county over $2,000,000 a year.
Also reported was that the hospital received a 92% rating from the Joint Commission survey done recently. Nabors quirked the staff was “running on vapors” after the exhausted preparation prior to the inspection. How bad is it when you have to do all this “preparation for a mandatory survey? Wonder what the score would be if the hospital wasn’t told the days of the inspection ahead of time.
Final thoughts on the weekend.
The weekend was marked forever by the tragic loss of seven astronauts. President Bush said it best; “The astronauts may not have made it safely to earth, but we can all pray they’ve made it home.”
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