NEWBERRY — Newberry County Memorial Hospital had lower volumes in May, leading to an operating loss of $56,872.

Chief Financial Officer Bob Hetrick said in his CFO report that after four consecutive months of strong financial performance, the hospital had a total bottom line of $49,743 for the month.

Year to date, the net operating income is $980,621 for NCMH and a total bottom line of $1,316,793.

The average daily census for May was 19.5 percent under budget at 17.7. Year to date, the average daily census of 21.7 is four percent below last year’s 22.6. Total acute inpatient discharges of 138 were 11.5 percent lower than the 156 budgeted.

Year to date, acute inpatient discharges are 1,700 which is 4.2 percent below last year’s 1,775, Hetrick’s report said. Emergency room visits averaged 60.4 per day which is slightly above last year’s 60.2 per day. Inpatient surgery cases were 32.4 percent below budget for the month of May and 3.1 percent above budget year to date.

Outpatient surgeries for May were 7.2 above budget and 13.9 percent above budget year to date. The 13 births were the lowest monthly total of the fiscal year and below the 24.5 monthly average for the year.

Hetrick said the hospital saw an increase of “self-pay” patients during the month as 13.2 percent of all revenue represented patients with no type of coverage. Year to date, the self-pay portion is 10.8 percent.

Due to a decrease in accounts receivable, cash flow improved by $168,653 for the month. The cash flow improvements of the past five months have resulted in a $2,127,087 positive cash flow position year to date with 215 days of cash on hand, the report said.

In his Chief Executive Officer’s report to the NCMH board, CEO Bruce Baldwin said that General Surgeon Dr. William Cantey started his employment recently at the hospital. Cantey worked as a locum in 2014 and Baldwin said he demonstrated excellent quality and the surgery staff enjoyed working with him.

Last month, the hospital’s finance committee and governing board approved to employ Cantey as their second full time general surgeon. Dr. John Brown is currently transitioning into the wound care center and limited surgery call.

Also in his report, Baldwin said the hospital’s key result report continued to show strong performance in the areas of inpatient and outpatient core measures.

“We continue to work with medical staff and other hospital staff to sustain great performance,” the CEO report read.

Other updates:

• The NCMH Foundation’s “Thrift and Gift” shop is now operating. The shop is located in the 145 Executive Drive building and is open the first Friday of each month from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and the third Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The shop will offer donated items and items left over from the Gift Nook.

The foundation is now taking donations such as knick knacks, furniture, kitchen items, children’s clothing, toys, etc. on the days the shop is open or by calling the foundation office at 803-405-7425 and setting up a drop off time. Tax receipts will be provided for all donations. All funds raised will support Newberry Hospital.

• There will be a drop-in for Tensie Stone on July 15 who is turning 95. Stone has been a volunteer with the hospital for over 15 years and still volunteers one day a week. The volunteers will host the drop-in. A time was not yet confirmed.

• NCMH was awarded a three-year term of accreditation in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field.