Kimball Health Services employees can rest a little easy at night knowing the board of trustees, and the hospital officers are on their side. Especially when it comes to the cost of their health insurance.

In an email sent by the American Hospital Association to Schnell, the AHA mentions a report released by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. The report states that health insurance premiums could rise by as much as 39 percent in some states.

For Kimball Health Services, the premiums could be inflated by as much as 33 percent. This information was presented to the hospital board of trustees at their monthly meeting Monday.

Schnell said she has explored some options and will continue to explore until she finds a way to minimize the increase.

It is possible, she said, to do some restructuring to help keep the premium increase down. In order to continue and solicit proposals, Schnell needed the boards backing.

Board President Sharon Baker said the board, and the hospital staff needed to explore this further.

“I would like to see some numbers,” she said, “Go ahead and run those out.”

Baker instructed the staff to get proposals and to break it down similarly to how it was done a couple of years ago.

With two new board members, Jerry Knutsen and Tammy Land, she wanted as much information presented to them as possible.

This will help them to make their decision, Baker said.

With the board’s approval, Schnell said they (the staff) will move forward.

Schnell told the board that the Request For Proposal on the Master Facility Plan was complete and now needed the board’s approval.

The RFP, in short, is asking for assessments on the KHS facility. Schnell explained that they want a full assessment indicating high priority areas.

The assessment will provide the board and staff with better information for plans moving forward. The RFP will be published in the newspaper as well as being sent to interested firms.

Schnell acknowledged that the time line is a little longer that what the board had originally hoped, but again, with new members, it provides them with the best information.

CFO Jim Garbarino presented the board with a look at the hospital’s finances. Garbarino said the patient visits in the month of January were lower than normal.

Some of that is attributed to a lack of providers, Garbarino said.

With new providers coming on board and being available, Garbarino estimated they will see an increase in patient visits.

The board also received reports from Cindy Cramer and Linda Cramer on quality and safety.

CEO Schnell updated them on the budget process, staffing recruiting, the Rural Nebraska Healthcare Network and more.