May 15, 2024 |
Photo – MHCC – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County Board of Trustees is seeking to split the cost of building maintenance and ambulance service with Carbon County officials.
At the May 7th County Commissioners meeting, the hospital’s Board of Trustees President Rod Waeckerlin asked the commissioners to contribute more money to the funding of the hospital. Waeckerlin said additional funding is needed to keep the facility running.
Built in 1972, Waeckerlin said the 52-year-old building is showing its age. The MHCC board president said the facility costs over a million dollars a year to keep operational.
Waeckerlin said health care profits across the country are shrinking. The MHCC board president asked the board to consider splitting the cost of building maintenance with the hospital.
Waeckerlin also told the board the ambulance service costs at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County have grown exponentially in recent years.
MHCC Emergency Department Manager Dan Starr said the hospital’s ambulance service extends far beyond the Rawlins city limit.
Because the ambulance services operated in the surrounding area are short staffed, Starr said MHCC has had to hire expensive traveling physicians, or travelers, to ensure continued ambulance coverage.
Starr said MHCC has been transporting more patients to Colorado hospitals. The emergency department manager said traveling across the border costs more money in both fuel and wages.
MHCC Board President Waeckerlin said unpaid hospital bills have increased $9-million in the past year–from $13 million to over $22 million.
Waeckerlin said almost half of the ambulance-related debt is collected from self-pay patients. Even though collecting payment from out-of-state patients is difficult, Waeckerlin said the hospital must still provide emergency medical service.
No decision was reached at the meeting. The county commissioners took the hospital’s request under advisement, saying they will consider splitting the cost of building maintenance and ambulance service during upcoming budget meetings.
