By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
During the regular meeting of the Guthrie County Hospital Board of Trustees, CEO Chris Stipe asked the trustees to consider approving employee bonuses for all staff. Stipe explained how, following feedback from employees, the hospital is now considering employee performance reviews (and any possible related pay increases) separately from consideration of possible employee bonuses.
“Last year, we included whether or not the organization achieved its goals as a part of the individual review for each employee. Twenty percent of your review was dictated by the organization’s performance,” Stipe said. “No longer is that the case.”
Stipe said any potential bonuses are now based on the overall performance of the organization.
“We rise or fall as a team,” Stipe said.
Stipe suggested a bonus of $512 for each full-time and part-time employee, and $256 for each “as needed” employee. He said any bonuses would be taxed, so employees would get a somewhat smaller take-home amount. The total budgetary impact to the organization would be roughly $52,000. The board voted to approve the bonuses as proposed. The timing of the bonuses was not yet determined.
Danielle Lauzon provided a summary of recent quality measurement data. She said there were 41 medication errors in fiscal year 2024, up slightly from the 39 medication errors in fiscal year 2023. She also shared data on employee injuries.
Stipe shared that regarding Workers Compensation, the hospital was tied for the lowest claims of any hospitals in Iowa, which he said is excellent.
“Even though we have some injuries, they’re not serious, and we’re not missing a lot of work days, so we’re doing better than almost all the hospitals in the state,” Stipe said.
Upon completion of the other agenda items, the board went into a special closed session as allowed by law.
The next regular meeting of the board is set for Thursday, Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. The public is welcome. For more information, including how to view remotely, visit www.guthriecountyhospital.org.