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Texas County Memorial Hospital’s chief executive officer, Bill Bridges, has graduated from the tenth cohort of the Center for Rural Health Leadership’s (CRHL) Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program board members heard at their monthly meeting, held on September 2. Bridges began the program in October 2024 as part of his duties at TCMH.
“I am deeply grateful to the board of trustees for the opportunity to participate in this CEO program,” Bridges expressed. “It was an enlightening experience that equipped me with essential skills to inspire and lead our exceptional staff.”
CRHL was built in response to the National Rural Health Association’s initiative to address the rural hospital closure crisis by equipping executives with the knowledge and skills to lead successfully during the most difficult time in rural healthcare history. This program was created by rural hospital CEOs, for rural hospital CEOs and was informed through an essential question: “What do you know now that you wish you’d known then?”
The program includes expert-led classes and interactive live discussion sessions covering essential topics like financial management, leadership development, regulatory compliance, patient outcomes, strategic planning with boards, and more.
Graduates consistently report measurable growth across curriculum areas of leadership, operations, finance, and clinical/quality. Many continue to meet with their cohort members after graduation to share ideas and solve challenges in real time.
“This program was built to equip rural executives with the skills, strategies, and support to lead through the toughest challenges facing rural healthcare today,” said Sydney Grant, Chief Learning Officer for CRHL. “It’s about more than just learning—it’s about community, confidence, and action.”
Bridges also received his annual employee service award at the meeting. Jim Perry, OD, chair of the TCMH board of trustees, presented the award, recognizing Bridges for 35 years of service to the county hospital. Bridges began his career at TCMH as an emergency medical technician.
In other news, The Delta Regional Authority awarded a $52,000 grant to TCMH for two scale nodes.
“We are thankful to the Delta Regional Authority for providing these funds,” Bridges said. “The scale nodes will enhance the servers for the information technology requirements of the hospital.”
Courtney Owens, chief nursing officer, presented a resolution for the Time Critical Diagnosis STEMI designation to the board members. Owens explained that TCMH is currently classified as a Level IV facility. This resolution aims to establish the necessary guidelines to meet federal and state requirements for proceeding with the verification process to elevate TCMH to a Level III facility.
“Our healthcare facility excels in caring for STEMI patients,” Owens said. “We have an outstanding cardiac rehabilitation program and are proud to offer this essential service close to home.”
TCMH is requesting a lower designation during the hospital’s recertification later this year in December, a process that occurs every three years.
Bridges updated board members on the “One Big Beautiful Bill”. Additional funds have been allocated for rural hospitals to help offset cuts to Medicaid and other rural hospital funding, but the additional funding is much less than the cuts. Bridges is concerned that the funds will be allocated to hospitals that are not actually rural. “We need to have a voice in how these funds are allocated.” Bridges said.
Bridges is participating in a legislative event in September in Washington, D.C. Organized by the Missouri Hospital Association, Bridges hopes to meet with Senator Josh Hawley, Senator Eric Schmidt, and Congressman Jason Smith. Bridges invited Smith to visit TCMH during his recent break and travels in the area, but a visit didn’t happen.
TCMH is hosting a legislative day on November 12.
“We will extend an invitation to all current local, state, and federal legislators, as well as those aspiring to run for office, to visit the hospital and gain a comprehensive understanding of the needs of our rural healthcare facility,” Bridges stated. “TCMH hasn’t had a visit from a federal legislator since former Senators Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond were in office.”
Board members approved a capital expenditure of $27,810 to upgrade the point-of-sale system at Hutcheson Pharmacy.
Owens, who submitted the request, explained that the existing system no longer meets the needs of the pharmacy or its patients.
“Our current point-of-sale system is outdated, and this upgrade will represent a significant improvement,” Owens said. “The new platform will feature several patient-friendly enhancements that will allow us to serve our patients more efficiently and safely.”
Bridges noted interest from community members in purchasing a piece of property owned by TCMH between Savor and Missouri Ozarks Community Health. The building once housed TCMH Home Health of the Ozarks. The property will advertise for sealed bids.
Linda Pamperien, TCMH chief financial officer, presented the July financials, which reflected an increase of $133,084 in overall revenues from budgeted monthly expectations.
“Our outpatient revenue increased $443,482, a 5.9 percent increase from our budgeted monthly expectations,” Pamperien said.
July inpatient admissions were at 69, which is the same number of admissions from the same time frame in 2024. There have been 573 admissions year-to-date.
The financial report reflected that the hospital’s profit/loss report showed a negative bottom line for July, with a decrease of $229,034 and a year-to-date loss of $1,047,447. The earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization (EBIDA) for the respective month were positive at $31,860 and the year-to-date EBIDA was positive at $797,907.
Present at the meeting were Bridges; Perry; Owens; Pamperien; Helania Wulff, public relations and marketing director; April Crites, quality and risk management; Christopher Baldwin, MD, chief of staff; and board members, Joleen Durham; Jennifer Hugenot; Jerri Crump; and Ross Richardson.
The next meeting of the TCMH board of trustees is on Tuesday, September 23, at 12 p.m. in the hospital board room.