Board Hires CompleteRx

By Geoff Folsom, Odessa American, Texas

Aug. 6–The Ector County Hospital District Board of Directors voted Tuesday to hire CompleteRx of Houston to manage Medical Center Hospital’s pharmacy.

The three-year contract will pay the company $72.27 per patient day, or an estimated $5.8 million a year, Peter Snell of CompleteRx said. In exchange, the company will provide MCH with prescription drugs, two pharmacists and a buyer.

The deal will save MCH an estimated $465,000 annually, said hospital chief operating officer Tony Ruiz.

In an evaluation, CompleteRx rated MCH’s pharmacy a “four,” on a scale of “one” being the best and “five” being worst.

The evaluation showed MCH was meeting minimum standards, but its drug cost trends more than doubled industry inflation, Snell said.

“Wow, this is an eye opener,” board member Mary Thompson said. “I think it would be negligent if we didn’t do this.”

The program would benefit MCH by guaranteeing drug costs at a certain level, Snell said.

Bill Webster, MCH chief executive officer, said the agreement would help the pharmacy better communicate with doctors and nurses.

“I think we have a very good pharmacy,” he said. “I think we can make it a lot better pharmacy.”

The board also approved modernization of four elevators near the hospital’s main entrance for $647,118. The project is the second part of a five-year plan to renovate all 27 elevators at MCH.

The project, which will take one elevator out of service at a time, will install new controllers, machines, signals and hoist way wiring.

In executive session the board approved five ProCare physician contracts with pulmonary critical care Dr. Moises Cossio ($400,000 per year), adolescent medicine Dr. Marcela Nur ($224,800), internal medicine for women Dr. Adriana Nur ($220,000), anesthesiologist Dr. Luke Young and wound care/family practice Dr. Eduardo Salcedo ($220,000).

In other action, the board approved:

–A regional UPL Resolution.

–A two-year cardiovascular perfusionist agreement for $390,000.

–A letter of engagement with the Hammes Company for an ambulatory care center at the planned project at MCH’s development in Northeast Odessa.

–An American Express Corporate Card Program that gives the hospital a $4.8 million credit line and gives up to a 1 percent cash rebate with certain vendors.

–Medical Equipment Management System, software and hardware for $128,283.

–A nurse paging system for $281,768.

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