Greenwood County Commissioners discussed ongoing concerns with patient transfers at Greenwood County Hospital (GWCH), approved the appointment of Interim Noxious Weed Director Debi Selfridge as director, and addressed several other county matters during their weekly meeting on Monday, Aug. 17.
GWCH providers Mike Moore and Nancy McKenzie discussed hospital patient transfers. Moore noted that he had addressed the commission approximately three years ago regarding the same topic. He said interfacility transfers have improved, attributing some of that progress to quarterly meetings between GWCH staff and EMS Director Brian Mongeau. Moore stated that GWCH has approximately 12 transfers per month, with 80% of those transfers utilizing Greenwood County EMS. He noted that 10% of the transfers were completed using GWCH nursing staff. Moore said that although measures have improved, the hospital still faces challenges with transfers and asked, “What can we do to bridge this gap?”
Commissioner Roy Ballard noted that the same discussion has been held annually since he began serving on the commission. He said it may be time for the hospital to consider establishing its own ambulance service and staffing individuals at the hospital who could handle evening transfers, when EMS has difficulty finding crews to cover calls.
GWCH CEO Sandra Dickerson said that option would be cost-prohibitive for the hospital. She noted that most hospitals do not offer their own ambulance service for that reason. Those that do offer an ambulance service often receive mill levy funding from their county to provide the service. No decisions were made.
Later in the meeting, Mongeau shared that Greenwood County EMS has completed 97 interfacility transfers from GWCH, with GWCH providing a nurse for eight of those calls. He also provided information from LifeSave Transport clarifying the average cost of air medical transfers. According to LifeSave, over the past three years, the average outof- pocket cost for air medical transfers was $233.79. This is due to the No Surprises Act, a federal law that went into effect in January 2022 to protect patients from large surprise balance bills for air ambulance services. The informational flier stated that patients with health insurance are responsible only for their copay, coinsurance and/ or deductible, if applicable, and that no membership is required.
Interim Noxious Weed Director Debi Selfridge presented a $9,173 bid from Clean Harbors to package and remove Household Hazardous Waste (HHW), as the department is at capacity. The bid was approved, with additional funds from HHW reserve accounts being used to cover the excess fees.
Selfridge also provided an update on the noxious weed department, noting that the boom mower remains out of commission and is still being repaired. She also shared that crews continue to mow and spray county roadways.
She said she had received an inquiry about mowing at Severy Lake before Labor Day because the organization that typically handles the mowing ahead of the fishing derby is unable to do so because its boom mower is also out of service. Commissioners said they were not in favor of taking on the additional mowing because county crews will already have mowing to catch up on once the county’s mower is repaired. The commission also approved moving Selfridge from interim director to director.
Greenwood County resident Craig Clark shared concerns about timber accumulating near Kitty Creek Bridge on L Road. He said there are seven landowners along a quarter-mile stretch and that when it rains, log jams create problems with fences on the properties. Commissioner Preston Evenson said the county has purchased a barrel trailer to remove logs that are clogging waterways near county bridges. It was suggested that if property owners have a location where the county could place the timber for burning, the process could be expedited. Clark said he had contacted the county Road and Bridge Department but had not received a response.
The commission held three executive sessions during its weekly meeting. The first was with EMS Director Brian Mongeau for 10 minutes regarding a personnel evaluation. The commission then held a five-minute executive session with County Counselor Paul Dean for legal matters. No action was taken.
The commission’s final executive session was for legal consultation regarding personnel policy with Dean, County Clerk Deann McCaffree and Payroll Clerk Darla Hampton. No decisions were made; however, Dean said a comprehensive review of employee policies is planned, as the policies were last reviewed in 2016. Dean noted that department heads with concerns about the policies should attend next week’s meeting.
The commission approved special payables for Aug. 10 totaling $4,371.86; regular payables totaling $252,496.74; and regular payroll for Aug. 21 totaling $166,888.67. The commission also approved the Aug. 3 and Aug. 10 meeting minutes as presented.
The board also held the primary election canvass, with commissioners reviewing 12 provisional ballots during a special meeting. After reviewing the rules, the commission approved eight of the 12 provisional ballots. The remaining four were not counted for various reasons, including being duplicate ballots, the voter not being a qualified registered voter when registration closed, and failure to complete an updated voter registration application following a change of address.
Official election results will be posted on the Greenwood County website under the election tab.
Greenwood County Commissioners will hold their next regular meeting Monday, Aug. 24, at 9 a.m., with the RNR and budget hearing scheduled for 10:05 a.m. A copy of the budget can be found on page 9 of this week’s edition.
