7/28/2019 AT&T Small Business Certification-Morehead City

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CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Weekly

HealthTips

WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2013

5B

Hospital to addhigh-tech cartsto aid deliveryof medications

Region facesopportunity inmilitarys return

BY MARK HIBBS

NEWS-TIMES

MOREHEAD CITY

County hospital officials aremoving ahead with a plannedpurchase thats supposed tomake medicine delivery moresecure.

Carteret General Hospitaldirectors approved last week a$350,000 capital purchase thatincludes computer workstationsand specialized bedside cartsequipped with barcode readersand other features designed forpatient identification and properadministration of medications.

The action was approved ina unanimous vote during theboards monthly meeting June24 at the hospital. The price tagwas about $190,000 more thanthe amount originally budgetedfor the required 50 carts.

The carts, manufactured byHoward Medical, a subsidiaryof Howard Industries of Laurel,Miss., will feature mounted bar-code scanners and eight patient

bins. The carts will allow thehospital to meet federal Stage2 Meaningful Use health careguidelines by implementingcomputerized provider orderentry.

The No. 1 goal, of course, isto help reduce medication errors

to make sure we get the rightmedicine to the right patient,Kyle Marek, CGH chief infor-mation officer, said Tuesday.

In other business dur-ing the recent meeting, hos-pital CEO Dick Brvenik saidhe was pleased with recentphysician recruitment efforts,including the planned arrival inSeptember of Dr. Mindy Merritt,a breast surgeon, to the staff atCarteret Surgical Associates in

Morehead City.Also, an employment contract

was pending for a reconstruc-tive plastic surgeon, the secondspecialist sought in an effort toachieve accreditation as a pri-mary breast care center withmultiple disciplines.

The hospital also seeks anoth-er neurologist and a physicianto fill a vacancy on CarteretGenerals hospitalist staff, Mr.Brvenik said.

Also, Mr. Brvenik said thehospital had agreed to providesupport services for the SECUCrystal Coast Hospice Housein Newport when that facilityopens this month. A ribbon-cut-ting event for the hospice housewas held June 23.

CGH will provide at its costfood service environmental ser-vices, along with consulting ser-vices on biomedical, physicalplant operations and engineeringand information technology.

Food services will consist oftwo meals, lunch and dinner,

which will be delivered at firstby hospital staff. Volunteers maylater be sought for food delivery,Mr. Brvenik said.

Environmental services willinclude cleaning and diseaseprevention.

Hospital director Doug Bradysaid he was extremely happythe hospital was involved withhospice house project.

Its a wonderful additionto the community, Mr. Bradysaid.

Also during the meeting, itwas announced by Donna Cheek,vice president of operations, thatthe hospitals rehabilitation ser-vices department had relocatedfrom the hospital to the CarteretGeneral Health Park, the loca-

tion of the CGH Urgent CareCenter on Bridges Street. Themove happened June 10.

Also, Joanie King, CGHvice president of finance, saidthe hospital provided servicesto 566 inpatients during May,compared to 585 during thesame period in 2012.

The hospital provided ser-vices to 11,231 patients throughthe emergency department andother outpatient services dur-ing the month, a 4.6 percentincrease compared to May2012.

Carteret General experi-enced $10.58 million in oper-ating revenues in May with

expenses totaling $9.86 mil-lion. Income from operationstotaled $727,973 resulting inan operating margin of 5.68percent.

Year-to-date income fromoperations totaled $10.54 mil-lion resulting in an operatingmargin of 10.37 percent.

The hospital experienced$733,469 excess revenues overexpenses after transfers fromaffiliates for the month for atotal margin of 5.72 percent.

Year-to-date excess revenuesover expenses after transfersfrom affiliates totaled $10.68million for a total margin of10.5 percent.

Carteret General Hospital officials recently approvedthe purchase of medication carts similar to the one shownoutfitted with patient medicine bins and barcode scannersfor proper identification. (Product photo courtesy Howard

Medical)

KINSTON Officials witha regional economic develop-ment agency say Eastern NorthCarolina is poised to capitalizeon a surge in military equipmentreturning from deployment inAfghanistan.

According to a press releaseFriday from North Carolinas

Eastern Region, as much as $5billion will be spent on trans-portation and $11 billion onthe repair of equipment return-ing from Afghanistan. Businessopportunities may exist in theexpected need for private compa-nies to handle the work, accord-ing to the group.

NCER said a recently complet-ed study it conducted with assis-tance from the N.C. Departmentof Transportation and severallocal economic developmentorganizations concluded eco-nomic opportunities exist for theeastern part of the state.

The group said overloadedmilitary depots and a shrink-ing budget mean the DefenseDepartment must take a new look

at how it does business.NCER Vice President Mark

Sutherland, who recently attend-ed the National Military LogisticsSummit in Washington, D.C.,said: leadership acknowledgesthe old ways of doing businesswill not work going forward.

NCER cited recommendationspresented by a logistics task forceto the defense secretary in 2011that the military should embraceprivate sector best practices thatreduce costs including the useof an integrated supply chain,shorter transport distances,skilled labor, favorable businessclimate and being closer to thecustomer.

NCER said privatization ofappropriate elements of the sup-

ply chain is the best solution andNorth Carolina is well suited tothe task.

North Carolinas militaryregion has much to offer both thedefense industry and DOD in thisquest, according to the group.

The region is home to sevenmilitary installations, two mari-time ports and four aerial ports ofdebarkation. It is home to nearlyhalf of the nations East Coastactive-duty ground forces andwhat NCER called the center ofgravity of the nations East Coastground military establishment.

According to the study, the

Study indicates $5 billion to be spent

regions logistics infrastructure roads, rails, ports and airfields now operate at 30 percent ofdesigned capacity.

This capacity, coupled withproximity to the military enduser, render North Carolina in avery favorable position to sup-port retrograde/reset activities,

according to NCER.A group called the North

Carolina Logistics Initiative islobbying to support the supplychain activities of the militaryby taking work from what NCERcalled overworked depots.

Whether it is warehous-ing, distribution, transportation,transloading, maintenance, theprovision of food and fuel, healthcare or any related logistics func-tion, the NCLI presents a solidbusiness proposition to industryand government for consider-ing eastern North Carolina as alogical place to do supply chainbusiness, NCER said.

The North Carolina militarycluster is a prime component

of the economies of CarteretCounty, surrounding countiesand the entire eastern region,said Myles Stempin, director ofthe Carteret County EconomicDevelopment Council. Onewould be hard pressed to findanother economic generatorthat would even come close toapproaching its magnitude.

He said the N.C. LogisticsInitiative, an outreach effort byNCER, not only makes a casefor enhancing the military mis-sion through efficiency and cost-savings but also with a reducedenvironmental impact.

Officials cited Onslow Countyfirms Oshkosh Defense as anexample. At its regional logis-tics center in Onslow County,Oshkosh Defense providesdepot-level maintenance to acustomer base that includes theU.S. Marine Corps, Army, Navyand Army National Guard.

Half of the companysemployees transitioned from themilitary directly into their civil-ian jobs at Oshkosh Defense,which officials said illustratesthe availability of a ready-madeworkforce in the region.

Other firms have chosen toperform their work in the statesmilitary region for the same rea-sons.

Unemployment rateincreases during MayScotland County had the high-

est unemployment rate at 16.2percent while Currituck Countyhad the lowest at 5.7 percent.

The May not seasonallyadjusted statewide rate was 8.9percent.

RALEIGH Unemploymentrates increased in Carteret and 86other North Carolinas countiesin May.

According to figures releasedTuesday by the N.C. CommerceDepartments Labor andEconomic Analysis Division,Carteret Countys not season-ally adjusted rate increased to8.4 percent from 7.8 percent inApril.

The county rate for May 2012was 8.1 percent.

Craven Countys rate increasedfrom 9.4 percent to 9.8 percent.

Onslow Countys rate increasedto 8.5 from 7.9 percent.

Rates decreased in 12 coun-ties and remained the same inone. All 14 of the states met-ropolitan areas experienced rateincreases.

U.S. car sales rise to pre-recession levelsDETROIT (AP) U.S.

buyers snapped up new cars andtrucks in June at a pace not seensince before the recession.

Continuing demand for bigpickups helped boost sales forDetroits automakers. Fordsaid Tuesday that its sales rose14 percent, while Chryslersgained 8 percent and GeneralMotors rose 6.5 percent.

Japanese automakers report-ed solid gains as well. Nissanssales jumped 13 percent, whileToyotas and Hondas each

rose 10 percent. South KoreasHyundai reported a record June,with sales up 2 percent.

Only Volkswagens salesdropped 3 percent, the thirdstraight monthly decline for theGerman car company as someproducts like the Jetta start toage.

Analysts say they dontsee much that could slow thesales momentum of the first sixmonths. The factors that juicedsales low interest rates,wider credit availability, risinghome construction and hot newvehicles are likely to remainin place. So far, hiccups in the

stock market, higher taxes andfluctuating gas prices haventdampened demand.

I think the fundamentalsfor continued growth in thenew vehicle sales industry areintact, Chryslers U.S. saleschief, Reid Bigland, said lastweek.

Analyst estimate that U.S.auto sales rose 6 percent to 8percent in June compared withthe same month last year. Theauto pricing site TrueCar.compredicts that dealers sold cars

and trucks at an annualized rateof 15.7 million last month, thebest rate since December 2007.

Sales of pickups, which havebeen selling at a rate three timesfaster than the rest of the indus-try, has continued at a strongpace in June.

Ford sold more than 68,000F-Series trucks, up 24 percentfrom last June and its best Junefor trucks since 2005. GM saidsales of the Chevrolet Silverado

jumped 29 percent to 43,259,while Chrysler Group soldnearly 30,000 full-size Rampickups, up 24 percent fromlast June. Small businesses

have been replacing their agingtrucks as home construction haspicked up.

Young graduates may havecontributed to a rise in small carsales, said Kelley Blue Bookanalyst Alec Gutierrez. Gasprices, which averaged $3.60 agallon nationwide in June andwere higher than a year ago,may have steered some buyersto more fuel-efficient models,he said.

Sales of Fords recentlyupdated Fiesta subcompact

more than doubled to 9,363,while sales of the subcompactHonda Fit were up 10 percent.Sales of the Hyundai Elantrasmall car jumped 26 percent tomore than 22,000.

Consumer confidence hit asix-year high in June. And theStandard & Poors 500 indexhad its best first half since1998, up 12.6 percent, althoughthere was some volatility latelast month.

At the same time, auto loanrates remained near historiclows in June. The rate on afour-year new-car loan is aver-aging 2.7 percent, according to

Bankrate.com.Ford said two of its best

sellers, the Fusion sedan andEscape SUV, were flat com-pared with last year, when thecompany was discounting oldermodels to make way for theupdated ones that are now onsale. Fords Lincoln luxurybrand was down 1 percent.

Chrysler, majority-owned byFiat SpA of Italy, also had someweak spots. Jeep sales were flatas the company halted produc-tion of the Liberty to get ready

for the launch of the new JeepCherokee in August.

Jeep may also have beensqueezed by Chryslers publicflap with the government lastmonth over the safety of someolder-model Jeeps. And salesfor the Chrysler and Fiat brandsboth rose 1 percent.

Honda reported strong salesof family haulers for the sum-mer road trip season. Sales ofthe Odyssey minivan, whichwill be replaced by an updatedmodel this month, jumped 26percent, while the CR-V smallSUV was up 14 percent.

BUSINESS HAPPENINGS

McGilvery gets

new positionCarteret-Craven Electric

Cooperative Field ServicesRepresentative Jeff McGilverywas recently selected to serve asstaking technician.

Mr. McGilvery joined the coop-erative in March2007 after work-ing for SumterUtilities doingcontract workfor the coop-erative. He willstart trainingfor the positionbeginning July 1,while continuing

to read electricmeters on a part-time basis.

Staking technicians primarilydesign and stake new services for

both underground and overheadlines for individual properties aswell as new subdivisions and com-mercial properties. That requireslocating water lines, gas lines, sep-tic tanks and drain fields and otherobstacles that could pose a conflictwith the installation of the electriclines.

Mr. McGilvery and his wife,April, have three children and livein Salty Shores.

McGILVERY

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