June 27, 2024 |
Photo – Memorial Hospital of Carbon County – Bigfoot99 file photo
Memorial Hospital of Carbon County held a bimonthly business breakfast meeting Wednesday. A few members of the public and Hospital staff gathered in the hospital’s cafeteria to discuss the status of the medical facility.
The sparsely attended meeting began with a discussion about the proposed taxpayer funded hospital district. During the June 18th Carbon County Commissioners meeting, hospital board members requested a 3-mil levy hospital district be included on the 2024 general election ballot. The property tax increase is anticipated to bring an additional $1.5 million a year to the cash-strapped hospital.
Without the healthcare district, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County may be forced to permanently shut its doors.
At yesterday’s meeting, Interim Chief Executive Officer Gerald Parton said rural hospitals are going out of business across the country. Parton said if Memorial Hospital was forced to close, the result would have a detrimental impact all across Carbon County.
County commissioners will decide if the hospital district will be added to the upcoming ballot during their August 6th meeting. Certain members of the board have indicated that the measure should be decided on by the residents of Carbon County, meaning it is likely to be on November’s ballot.
The hospital’s Director of Strategic Operations Stephanie Hinkle said she’ll work until the November elections educating the public about the need for the hospital district. Hinkle asked for members of the community to help spread the word.
Hinkle explained that the proposed hospital district will exclude areas of Carbon County that are already covered by other medical services. The strategic director said voters outside of Rawlins, Sinclair, and Hanna are less likely to approve of the hospital district.
Information provided by the hospital shows that the proposed healthcare district will add an additional $28 to $142 a year to property taxes, based on the value of a home.
Hinkle said she expects Memorial Hospital to receive $1.5 million a year in taxes. However, County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett said the hospital is unlikely to see any taxpayer money before the middle of 2026.
Hinkle said voters need to consider what will happen if Memorial Hospital is forced to close when they cast their November ballots.
In the meantime, Memorial Hospital must increase the revenue it receives from patient care. To meet that goal, Felicia Kimball, with over 25 years of medical billing experience, was brought on to oversee the hospital’s finances. Kimball said the Colorado-based collections agency, Revenue Enterprise, is making progress on getting patients to pay their overdue medical bills.
Kimball said she is working to send out bills sooner, make it easier for patients to pay over the phone, and improve patient access to financial assistance information.
Despite its ongoing financial problems, Strategic Director Hinkle said Memorial Hospital will continue to offer free school physicals for Carbon County students. Hinkle said community events are an important part of the hospital’s mission.
Yesterday’s Memorial Hospital of Carbon County business breakfast brought to light the challenges facing the medical facility as well as some solutions hospital staff are proposing. However, it appears that the fate of Memorial Hospital is tied to the creation of the proposed hospital district.
Visit Bigfoot99.com later today to see the property tax calculator provided by the hospital.
