CMMC Board Maps Dreams

              EIGHT B 10-27-72 THE SHREVEPORT JOURNAL, SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY, L
Could Become Realities—
CMMC Board Maps Dreams
By Merrilee Leatherman
Journal Staff Writer
Satellite clinics? Mobile
emergency facilities dashing
around the area? Maybe even
helicopter service?
All these — and more —
were among the dreams set
before the Confederate Memo-rial
Medical Center's Board of
Directors Thursday evening
during their bi-monthly meet-ing.
AND THOSE dreams could
become a reality — a nearly
completed feat by June 30,
1976.
If everything goes right.
First, however, the hospital
board must begin mapping out
complete plans for the hospi-tal's
future projects — al-ready
tagged as "speciality
care units" by Medical Direc-tor
Rod Yeager, M.D.
Robart Hall, acting adminis-trator,
explained that under
new bill HR-A, funds are to be
provided to improve emergen-cy
medical care facilities in
the state. The funds are to be
applied for in a "projects
budget" and must show how
they will be a p p 1 i e d for
specific projects through June
30, 1976.
THESE "PROJECTS
FUNDS" are to be allocated
in addition to monies budgeted
to the hospital for fiscal year
1973. The '73 hospital budget
will be decided during the
next legislative session but
p r e p a r ations already are
being made for its presenta-tion
before the state finance
committee in the near future.
Dr. Yeager, stating that he
"wants l o n g - r a n g e plans
drawn up now so that we will
be ready to move at once
when the time comes," says
he will submit this project-or-iented
budget to legislators in
addition to the regular CMMC
fiscal budget.
THE BOARD noted that
Louisiana has a state-wide
charity system and there is a
possibility of using an emer-gency
care "branch-out" sys-tem
— with Earl K. Long
Hospital in Baton Rouge,
Charity Hospital in New Or-leans
and CMMC in Shreve-port
serving as the primary
branch sites for sending out
emergency mobile care opera-tions
in "stand-up work un-its."
These units would not be
solely for the trauma patient,
but also for such patients as
the cardiac victim.
Quinn, along with Hall and
Dr. Yeager, said even though
there is a shortage of medical
doctors, '"we can use medics
in these ambulances — med-ics
trained by CMMC with
federal funds."
From these beginnings, the
board speculated, the hospital
could think about burn units
and others — all of which
would take care of the acutely
ill.
THOUGH THE project-or-iented
budget will be submit-ted
alongside the routine year-ly
budget, Dr. Yeager and
Hall noted that funds will be
allocated for special projects
as deemed necessary and
feasibile even though a long-range
plan must be submitted.
Quinn said he thought part
of the new Revenue Sharing
funds recently made available
stipulated that part of the
funds must go for health care.
"We need to apply for our
share now for these projects,"
he stressed. Board member
Ralph Hall agreed. "If we
don t get in on the ground
floor, our chances for the
money may be nil. "In fact,"
he added, "I think Dr. Mary
(Dr. Charles Mary of Charity
in New Orleans) already is
making similar plans."
DR. YEAGER also said
when "speciality care units
were discussed as projects, it
meant we also were talking
about general hospital beds
which would have to be closed
to make room for the speciali-ty
care units."
However, the medical direc-tor
said he felt other facilities
would be made available and
services established for geria-trics
or chronic care, possi-bly
at the now-terminated
, Pine Sanatorium.
The first step in the hosni-tal's
long-range "satellite clin-ic
plan was put into motion
Thursday evening when the
board agreed to locate funds
to make the Cooper Road
Raines Center a full-fledged
satellite clinic to the hospital.
Quinn said, "The board moves
to provide all necessary funds
available for Raines Center,"
after discussion about a re-cent
meeting to learn the
center's problems.
THE RESIDENTS in the
Raines Center area, he said,
want the center's hours ex-tended,
ambulance service,
medicine dispensed — these
are future items now being
worked on — and we want to
coordinate our efforts with
those of allied health groups."
Quinn also said that Dr.
Mary—when asked about the
value of satelite clinics —
responded, "Go ahead and do
it. I heartedly recommend
them — they give better
medical care and lighten the
patient load at the hospital,
among other things."
Money — and salaries —
-again became the focal point
during the evening when
Ralph Hall, chairman, Per-sonnel-
Employee Committee,
asked, "Is the hospital sup-posed
to give fair and equal
treathent to all employees —
whether they are transfers or
not?"
HALL ADDED that there
were several Pines' employes
who were transferred to
Confederate when the Pines
was closed — but that they
were transferred to Confeder-ate
not only with their sala-ries
cut, but with their retire-ment
funds dropped.
The board chairman told
Hall he had asked all civil
service e m p l o y e s to write
down their duties since they
will have the chance to be
re-evaluated and reassigned
under new civil service rules
But salaries again came
into play when Hall suggested
that the meritorius raise poli-cy
for Confederate civil serv-ice
employes should be put
under the direction of the
hospital director and adminis-trator
and each department
supervisor.
"That way," he said, "this
hospital could give merito-rious
raises when the funds
are available and the raise is
due, rather than waiting for a
meeting of the board and its
vote of approval."
The idea was held for more
discussion.