Dateline: March 30, 2006
Hospital board answers ad from taxpayers
By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise
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.