June 20, 2024 |
Photo – Memorial Hospital of Carbon County – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County Board of Trustees wants to establish a healthcare district to help fund the cash strapped hospital.
During Tuesday’s Carbon County Commissioners meeting, hospital board members Garry Goergen and Jerry Steele asked for a hospital district to be added to the 2024 election ballot.
Goergen said Memorial Hospital needs money to continue operating. The board member said a healthcare district is their last-ditch effort to find funding for the hospital.
Goergen said he believes that Memorial Hospital of Carbon County is the only critical care hospital in Wyoming without a funding source outside of seeing patients. The MHCC board member said a hospital district is the only option left to keep the facility open.
Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett and Treasurer Lindsey West, said they had created a map showing who will be taxed if a hospital district was created. Clerk Bartlett listed the municipalities that would be located in and out of the proposed healthcare district.
As a starting point, the hospital trustees are asking for a 3 mill levy on the property values in the affected areas. Clerk Bartlett said with the commissioners’ approval, electing a Hospital District Board of Directors will also be added to the 2024 ballot.
The MHCC Board of Trustees and the Hospital District Board of Directors would operate as two separate entities until the hospital district is fully functional. Clerk Bartlett said even if the measure is passed, the hospital district is unlikely to receive any money until October of 2025 at the earliest.
The county clerk also said the hospital district isn’t guaranteed to receive the estimated $1.5 million.
Clerk Bartlett said adding anything to the upcoming ballot requires a 30-day notice. After publishing a proclamation in the local newspaper, the commissioners will decide at their August 6th meeting if the measure will be on the 2024 ballot.
Clerk Bartlett said candidate filing for the upcoming election ends on August 27th. The county clerk said if the commissioners vote to add the hospital district to the ballot, the MHCC Board of Trustees won’t have a lot of time to arrange five candidates.
The county commissioners voted to advertise a proclamation to add the creation of a hospital district to the 2024 ballot. Commissioner John Johnson said he believes the formation of a healthcare district should be left up to Carbon County voters.
