New transfer van in the works at Greater Regional

A new vehicle for transferring patients will be available for Greater Regional’s vehicle fleet.

Three requisitions of equipment were approved by Greater Regional Health during a board of trustees meeting on Monday. Alongside the new transfer van, a LifePak and additional software for the hospital’s EPIC network were also approved.

Introducing the LifePak and transfer van was Ryan Burwell. A LifePak is a vitals sign monitor and cardiac defibrillator, in this case to be used by Greater Regional’s ER. The LifePak (Greater Regional chose the latest model LifePak 35) will replace aging equipment.

When introducing a new transfer van, Burwell referred to a patient transfer he took part in with the current van. He said a transfer from Iowa City to Creston would add 360 miles for the whole trip, a regular event which causes the life cycle of these vehicles to quickly depreciate.

The transfer van would function as a slightly smaller ambulance, with Greater Regional opting for a Mercedes model with various loading tools. The van will cost $181,000 with an additional $5,000 budgeted for decals, although Burwell said he was confident the decals won’t cost that much.

Burwell said the van would help transfer patients in the same way an ambulance would. He said the most complicated transfer would be patients on ventilators, but said there’s enough room to make it happen. For long-distance transfers, the van would be the best option.

“It’ll be better on mileage, a better ride for everyone,” Burwell said.

The new van will join Greater Regional’s fleet which also consists of two ambulances. The purchase will be the first time Greater Regional works with Feld Fire, based in Carroll, Iowa. Burwell said the company has been proactive with communication and was a welcome change in comparison with past vendors.

Burwell said estimates on the transfer van’s arrival would take about a year.

Also approved was an EPIC Anesthesia Module Integration package, presented by Wendy Hayes. EPIC’s system allows for the hospital to digitally store patient records and other day-to-day information relating to the care a patient is receiving.

The module addition will track a patient’s anesthesia digitally, rather than the physical documentation used at Greater Regional. Features documented include their vital signs, ventilator settings, medications administered and other updates on their conditions.

The project will cost a little over $53,000 among other additional payments, the total not to exceed $60,000.

In other Greater Regional news...

Chief Financial I think just because it’s so laidback. People show up for the day, they sign up at 11, done by 5, 5:30. No greater expectation than just to hang out and enjoy the summer day.

Matt McCutchan said May was a “tough month” financially, although some of the higher operating costs were based on seasonal trends. He said drug price inflation continues to be an issue.

Greater Regional approved the operating budget for fiscal year 2026. An 8% increase in revenue and expenses was budgeted for Greater Regional’s next year of operation.

Direct payments to the hospital from the federal government was predicted by McCutchan to be lowered over the next year, who gave a “conservative” estimate of a 25% decrease, with more cuts on the way.

“The best educated guess that I’ve seen right now is they’re going to start cutting by maybe 10% per year, but not until 2027,” McCutchan said. “I don’t feel like it’s going to go off a cliff this next fiscal year; they’re going to slowly throttle it back.”

The hospital celebrated a lack of property tax raises for the 23rd year in a row. McCutchan said Greater Regional was on track to be debt-free by December 2026.

CEO Monte Neitzel, who returned to regular board meetings this month, said it was important to work on improving the hospital’s operations to better serve the local community.

“A lot of people get lax about what we’re doing,” Neitzel said. “We will not increase taxes as some of our surrounding community hospitals have done already. We will have a renewed vigor, interest in watching our expenses to see where our revenue is at.”