PART II OF II EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – The Excelsior Springs Hospital is in “thrive mode,” particularly financially, CEO Kristen DeHart told city leaders when sharing the hospital’s 2021 report during the City’s Council’s May 16 meeting at the Hall of Waters. In 2021, DeHart “was thinking it was a little premature to say ‘thrive,’” but she assured that data supported the term. The data included some audit figures, such as the hospital’s net position change from 2019, $4.3 million in the red, to $6 million in the black last year. COVID influenced the shift, DeHart acknowledged. During 2020 and 2021, the pandemic provided “a nice runway to be able to do those things that we needed to do – to bring the clinic space over, to be able to build the pharmacy services (component) and to be able to use that COVID money (we received) to the (hospital’s) advantage to get those systems up and going,” she said. Finances look good thi...