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.