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HomeMy Public PortalAboutValley County, Idaho: Hospitals(fie w S ,1 u l ;25, /9Y�' Valley h ospital managers taken over Rural West Medical Manage- ment, the company that operates both of Valley County's hospitals and the hospital in Council, has been acquired by Holy Cross Health System Corporation of South Bend, Ind., according to a news release from the McCall - based company. Holy Cross is a non - profit health care system with opera- tions in six states. Eleven hospitals, including St. Alphon- sus Regional Medical Center in Boise, are part of the system. Rural West was formed in 1979 by Gerald L. Hart to share management related services, reduce duplication' of services and to enhance marketing poten- tial among rural hospitals, the release states. At a meeting of the Valley County Hospital Board last week, Hart gave board members reasons for the acquisition and reassured them that no changes in the agreement between the coun- ty and his company were for- thcoming. "There will be no changes in the contract. I have a guarantee from them," he said. Hart said he would be able to draw on Holy Cross resources and expertise in such areas as measuring public sentiment con- cerning health care issues. He said Rural West currently cannot handle such a project. Under the agreement, Rural West becomes a wholly -owned subsidiary of Holy Cross with wi Hart remaining as the company's i chief executive officer. Existing contracts between t' Rural West and its client facilities will continue and individual hospitals are not involved in the acquisition, he said. In addition to the Cascade, McCall and Council facilities, Rural West manages hospitals in Cottonwood, Hailey and, Moun- tain Home, a nursing hpme in Grangeville and a clinic in Kamiah, according to the release. By Mike Stewart The Star -News Valley County will have three hospital boards next Monday as a result of action taken at a special meeting of the Valley County Board of Commissioners last week. Effective Monday, six of the seven members of the old Valley County Hospital Board will resign to take positions on the two new hospitals boards. One board will oversee the recently created Valley County Hospital District and operate Valley County Hospital in Cascade, and the other will han- dle affairs of the McCall Memorial Hospital District, which contains McCall Memorial Hospital in McCall. The districts were formed as a result of two elections held Dec. 20. County voters approved for- mation of the districts as the way to bail out the county's two hospitals from their current financial straits. Named to the Valley County Hospital District Board are: JoAnn Wheeler, Lee Diffendaf- fer, Hugh Kennedy, Jim Leonard, outgoing county com- missioner Everett K. "Pat" Allen, Colleen Cole and Tom Olson. Wheeler, Diffendaffer and Kennedy were members of the old board. On the McCall Memorial Hospital District Board are: Dr. Brad Gauss, Dan Krahn, Del Catlin, Pauline Yensen, Marion Johnson, Dean Hagerman and Rosemary Skiftun. Gauss, Krahn and Catlin were members of the old board. Valley County Clerk John Crutcher said Melissa Brunner, also a member of the old board, decided not to accept an appoint- ment to one of the new boards. She will resign, effective Mon- day, he said. In addition to the boards for the two new districts, the county commissioners at their Dec. 31 meeting appointed an entirely new Valley County Hospital Board, which had supervised both hospitals. Commissioners learned that the old board must remain in ex- istence to help in the transition of control and property from the old to the new governing boards. Crutcher said the old board can't be dissolved without a countywide vote on the question. He said that vote would be likely / once the transition takes place, but that the entire transfer of property, equipment and jurisdiction could take up to a year. Appointed to fill the positions on the old board were a full slate of elected county officials. They include County Commissioners Adolf Heinrich and Howard Koskella, incoming Commis- sioner Sue Probst, Prosecuting Attorney Thomas Lynch, Assessor Bob Downend, Sheriff Blair Shepherd and Treasurer Carmen Irwin. Koskella said those appoint- ments were made because it would be easy to get those people, together at a moment's notice at the Valley County Courthouse. The appointments were logical because the old board was representing the county's interest in its business dealings, he said. Heinrich said the old board would be abolished when it no longer serves any function. Such a question would be put to the voters at a general election to save the county the expense of having a special vote, he said. The new boards are different than the old board in that they are more autonomous. They will set their own budgets and levy the amount of tax revenue that's needed to meet the budget up to three mills of property taxes. The boards can levy up to two mills without a public hearing and up to three mills with a hear- ing. Information provided prior to the Dec. 20 vote indicated that the McCall Memorial district could levy for up to $160,000 in tax revenue, while the Valley County District could levy for about $75,000. Jerry Hart, whose Rural West Medical Management Inc. handles administration at both hospitals, said he was pleased with the prospective board members. "I'm looking forward to work- ing with them and I hope they're looking forward to working with each other," Hart said. He acknowledged that the management contract between his firm and the county's hospitals expired with the forma- tion of the districts and subse- quent naming of new boards. While he said he has no guarantees that a contract with the new boards will automatically be forthcoming, he said he will continue to oversee the normal day -to -day operation of the hospitals until directed otherwise by the new boards. Grant to be sought for Valley low- income health services BY C' -�RISS A SINDON for The Star -News Local health officials will seek a federal grant they hope will help them improve health -care access for Valley County residents, including low- income and uninsured patients. The decision was made at a meeting at the Donnelly Community Center last week attended by representatives of St. Luke's McCall, Cascade Medical Center, Adams County Health Center, Community Care Clinic and various state associations and organizations. The $85,000 one -year Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant being sought is administered through the Health Resources Services Administration. It would fund one year of planning to bring together health organizations to establish or improve capacity and coordinate care, said Mary Sheridan, a program manager with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. The decision comes after officials learned last month a proposed health clinic in Donnelly did not receive a federal grant intdnded to help establish a low -cost health center in Valley County. Participants have identified mental and dental health as areas where there is a significant need for low- income and uninsured residents. The work the group has already done makes them well poised to apply for the planning grant, Sheridan said. The grant could be used to create a countywide plan for delivering services, including a business plan or needs assessment, she said. "Applying for the (grant) is the logical next step in our collaborative efforts to increase access to healthcare for the underserved,n said Denise Langston- Groves, executive director of the Adams County center. It might be possible for the Adams County center to get approval for a satellite office in Valley County to provide dental services if it met certain requirements like being Medicaid - approved, Langston- Groves said. Dental Care Needed Participants talked about the need to include dentists in the discussion to determine their level of interest. Both Langston- Groves and Dr. Sarah Jessup, medical director of the Community Care Clinic, agreed that more dental care is needed, but that is a small part of the overall need for the area. "I think the other need, which probably ranks evenly with dental, is mental health and very importantly, primary preventative medical care for the uninsured and underserved," Langston- Groves said. St. Luke's McCall will have to figure out a way to serve those who are uninsured or unable to pay by possibly setting aside a time each day or setting up a weekly clinic, St. Luke's McCall CEO Lee Rhodes said. But as with dentists, physicians will have to be willing to accept the reimbursements offered by insurance plans, Rhodes said.