Wider planning needed for land donation

With a general area in mind to donate for the Holyoke Community Child Care Initiative, a great deal of discussion at the Tuesday, April 25, East Phillips County Hospital District board meeting centered on logistics and the bigger picture in planning for a community child care facility.
    With Melissa Memorial Hospital owning almost 30 lots, most of them north or east of the 1001 E. Johnson St. hospital location, zoning and an overall community master plan for any future development were major factors in debating where a child care center would best fit.
    The area just south and east of where Heginbotham Avenue turns west into Jules Street was favored by much of the board.
    “We want to make sure we don’t tie our hands,” said board member Sheila Gift regarding the potential for future hospital expansion. “There’s still considerable acreage north and east for the hospital.”
    In addition, it was noted that this location is already curbed and guttered and would provide a good loop for school drop-off.
    At the board’s March 28 meeting, it was discussed that the HCCCI intends for the day care building to provide multiple family-type functions and services for the community. Space for a decently sized parking lot would be necessary. In addition, utility access and a nearby drainage ditch would need to be taken into consideration for development.
    Looking wider, a row of lots from Jules Street to Hale Street stretching from Heginbotham Avenue east to Evans Avenue are already platted as residential housing.
    “It’s important that we look larger than day care,” said CEO Trampas Hutches. “We need to look at a master plan for the community.”
    Hutches brought up the local housing crunch. The need for low-cost housing for elderly, independent persons was mentioned by board members, as was the ideal location of housing across from a day care.
    The future of the day care itself was also discussed. While board member Gary Rahe said he doesn’t foresee the child care center failing, he also pointed out that Julesburg recently had to close their center for a lack of sustainability. “In 10 years, we’ll have neighbors,” he said. “Can we lay out that we would have first rights to the building?”
    The structure of the agreement with HCCCI is another area needing research, according to Hutches, but he said having the hospital district own and lease out the ground could open up Department of Local Affairs grant potential for the project.
    Discussions will continue with the HCCCI, but because of the board’s informal blessing on the land donation, the HCCCI will be able to move forward to begin environmental studies, cost assessments, seed grants and more.
    
    Eastern Plains Health Care Consortium picks up steam
    Also at the Tuesday meeting, Hutches informed the board that the Eastern Plains Health Care Consortium, an alliance among rural hospitals that has been in the works for about a year, is picking up steam in its development, having recently achieved 501(c)(3) status.
    The focus of the consortium, currently consisting of MMH and hospitals in Burlington, Hugo, Eads and Cheyenne Wells, is to share employees such as RNs and locum tenens and build bargaining power for shared specialty services. The group is already talking to orthopedic and general surgeons.
    Such a consortium will enable the small, rural hospitals to operate independently of larger hospitals on the Front Range. The five hospitals are first working to form a board of directors, consisting of the CEO and one employee from each represented hospital, and then plan to set up a membership to invite other rural hospitals to come on board.
    Hutches said that all 15 rural eastern Colorado hospitals are interested in joining the consortium.
    
    Holyoke EMS now transferring for other hospitals
    In another example of shared services, Hutches reported to the board that the recently revamped EMS program, which last year missed 97 transfers to other EMS departments, is now transferring for other hospitals.
    Holyoke’s EMS has conducted at least two transfers for Julesburg and Haxtun hospitals so far — a huge turn-around for the service once criticized for being unable to transfer its own local patients.
    Efforts to build the program continue as full-time EMS director Brady Ring is currently organizing a fundraising golf tournament to take place Aug. 12.
    
    Optometry takes a test run
    Holyoke Family Eye Care should be up and running soon, according to Hutches, as MMH employees in need of vision checkups were patients in a clinic test run Wednesday, April 26.
    The test run allowed the clinic to work out any kinks in the logistics or flow of the eye appointments before opening for appointments with the public. Hutches reported Thursday, April 27, that the trials went well.
    
    Strong month turns around MMH YTD financials
    CFO Wes White reported at last week’s meeting that a very strong revenue month in March has helped turn around MMH’s year-to-date financial report.
    With a record-setting 30 specialty clinic visits in one month and surgical volume that has doubled since last year, MMH’s net income for March was $151,181.32, well over the budgeted $55,375.24.
    The dramatically high revenue was much needed after two poor months, as the hospital’s year-to-date net income, conservatively figured, is still 18 percent below the budgeted year-to-date amount.
    
    Provider fee bill still hangs overhead
    In other financial news, Hutches told the board that Colorado Senate Bill 17-267, the bill that would reassign the hospital provider fee as an enterprise fee and thereby avoid TABOR law issues, is currently stuck between the House and the Senate.
    Hutches said the bill’s failure would drastically affect MMH’s 2018 budget, costing the hospital about $20,000 per month beginning in summer 2018.
    The CEO later reassured that MMH will still survive should the bill fail. “We would just have to pull back on our expenses,” said Hutches. “It at least gives us a year to get our service lines up and profitable.”
    Hutches also said that, in better news, MMH is pulling more patients from the surrounding area than ever before, with its marketshare up 4 percent from last year.
    
    MMHF report
    Steve Young reported on behalf of the MMH Foundation at the April 25 meeting. As of the last Foundation meeting, Kay Harmon is a new board member, bringing the total number of members to a full seven.
    Young also said that the hospital appreciation movie will be May 7 at 1:30 p.m., paid for by the Foundation and MMH.
    
    Other business
    In other business at the April 25 meeting, the board:
    —Approved a banking resolution allowing White to access banking information and sign documents.
    —Held a 38-minute executive session for contract negotiation and legal purposes.