Hospital board answers ad from taxpayers

The Donley County Hospital Board met in regular session March 21 in the Conference Room of the Medical Center Nursing Home.

Holly Eads certified the candidates for this year’s board election as being unopposed, and the board approved a resolution declaring Onita Thomas, Carolyn Moffett, Gene Hommel, and Bright Newhouse as duly reelected.

Board Chairman Alan Fletcher discussed the “Time for a Change” advertisement printed in the March 16 edition of The Clarendon Enterprise, which in part calls for a petition to abolish the hospital district tax.

Members of the board agreed that many people are uninformed about the function of the hospital district, noting the number of people employed by the district, the presence of the nursing home and the ambulance service, and the necessity to pay for indigent care.

“I don’t think these people have any idea what the tax does,” director Onita Thomas said.

Fellow director Melinda McAnear agreed with Thomas.

“I think it’s the name, and that’s been a problem since the hospital closed,” McAnear said.

Administrator Vicky Robertson reviewed petition requirements and procedures with the board.

Fletcher and other board members said they intended to attend the taxpayers’ meeting called for in the advertisement in order to answer questions about the tax. The board also voted to purchase an ad of equal size explaining the function of the hospital district.

In other district business, Eads gave the indigent care report and said one inmate application had been approved, two six-months reviews had been completed and benefits continued, and three applications were pending requested information. Reimbursements of $160.75 had been received.

Robertson reviewed the monthly budget for the Medical Center Nursing Home and said the facility’s census was 53 that day. She also reported on the costs and attendance related to family nights for the residents, and this item will be placed on the April board agenda.

Henry Stephens of Valor Telecom reviewed proposals by his company for a new telephone system for the hospital district that would expand and replace the current system, which has been experiencing problems. The board will review the proposals before the next meeting.

Robertson also discussed other potential capital improvements for the board to consider in making long-range plans for the facility.

The board approved sending Robertson and Eads to an out-of-state workshop on Medicare billing since MCNH anticipates admitting its first Medicare patient in the near future.

Associated Ambulance Authority Director Anita Aaron reported 46 calls serving 47 patients during the month of February. She also reported five fire department stand-by calls.

Fletcher reported that he and Newhouse had worked out with Clarendon College how EMT classes could be accredited by the college, and the board approved that agreement.

Aaron reported that Debra Hill had written a grant to purchase another Evac-U-Splint at a cost of $1,500, which will be covered entirely by the grant. 

Aaron also reported that the she will be conducting an advanced level EMT-Intermediate class in Childress.