The Eureka Springs Hospital Commission approved the purchase of a new medication dispensing system that will move the newly- designated rural emergency facility “technologically forward.”

At its monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 19, the commission unanimously approved purchasing the Pyxis medication dispensing system for an initial price of $151,365 and $845 per month for system maintenance.

“Pyxis is a medication system and if you go to any hospital in this nation, I’m beginning to think we may be the only ones that are still old-school with med bins and padlocks,” hospital CEO Angie Shaw told the commission. “Pyxis is a system that will move us forward not only technologically forward, but it’s going to enhance safety. It’s going to be able to catch any medication that is dispensed because it’ll have to be signed out of these machines.

“Right now, it’s on a piece of paper and the nurse goes and signs it off, or doesn’t, and then we have to figure out where it goes … Everything is very manual right now.”

Shaw told the commission that when the pharmacy board conducted an audit of the hospital in November it recommended that the facility get an automated pharmacy system.

“They asked us about our technology and pharmacy since we are manual,” she said. “That was one of the things that they highly recommended that we look into, is to get the system.”

Shaw explained that there are only two companies that provide pharmacy systems and one is “slowly phasing out their pharmacy system.” Part of the Pyxis system will be a “pharmacy grade” refrigerator, Shaw said.

“Which we’ve never had for our pharmacy,” she said. “It monitors the temperature, makes sure everything is compliant. It also, any kind of medication we need, the door will open and it will spit it out to the nurse. That’s where the safety component will come in. They will put in what they need and the only thing that’s going to open is the door that the medication is in.”

Shaw said there was an option to lease the system for $3,420 per month, which includes the $847 monthly maintenance fee, but facility administration felt that purchasing it outright was the best way to go.

“The lease would be for 60 months and you do not own it outright,” Shaw said. “When we discussed the lease or the purchase option we felt that it would be more of an advantage if we purchase this outright for the fact that we can count the depreciation on the machinery…” Shaw said Pyxis has a regional sales representative in Northwest Arkansas so getting the support needed for the system would happen in timely fashion.

Commissioner Sandy Martin questioned where in the hospital budget such a purchase would come from, but chair Kent Turner said the commission would discuss the hospital budget at its next workshop on Saturday, March 2.

“My concern is just budget and priorities for the money,” Martin said, just before the unanimous vote to approve the purchase.

OTHER TOPICS

Turner told commissioners that a group of about 18 Kansas University School of Architecture students recently evaluated the hospital as it prepares for possible renovations that align better with recent new designation as a Rural Emergency Hospital.

The KU program picked the Eureka Springs Hospital for its final project of the semester.

“They wanted to see us for their final project to re-evaluate what we’ve done, where we’re at, and look at it from the standpoint of a local emergency hospital,” Turner said. “That would be done at no cost.”

Turner said the group is working with the hospital’s current architects that put together the original study of the hospital.

“…We’ll get a good idea of what they think would be a good use of the space,” Turner said. “They’ve seen the prior drawings and they’ve gotten copies of the plats. They’ll be reviewing all of that.”

In her CEO report, Shaw reported that the hospital saw about 40 patients less in January than in January 2023, a 17 percent decrease.

“Overall, looking at the year of 2023 compared to 2022, it was a 4 percent decrease in patients through the ER,” she said.