Allen County commissioners will meet with Hospital Corporation of America representatives, including Joyce Heismeyer, chief operating officer at Allen County Hospital, soon to get a better feel how HCA might fit into plans for an upgrade of health care in the county.
That was an outcome of a session commissioners had with Heismeyer and members of the Hospital Facilities Commission Tuesday morning.
HCA has managed the hospital since 2003 and operates ACH for-profit under a lease agreement with a six-month termination clause.
Allen County owns the hospital building; it and HCA own equipment within.
Commissioners conceded it was important for them to learn more about HCA’s mindset, including whether it would be willing to continue management if the county took control and made the hospital not-for-profit.
Also, commissioners asked Hospital Facilities Commission members to expand their role in the process that eventually will lead to deciding whether to remodel or build anew.
Mary Ann Arnott, HFC chairman, said she and others were agreeable to doing preliminary surveys of possible management groups, such as Quorum, Via Christi, St. Luke’s and Sisters of Mercy. No timeline for interviews was established, although all agreed it should be done as soon as possible.
When serious consideration of a hospital upgrade began early this year, thought was given to a referendum for the Aug. 3 primary election to decide financing for the work. Now commissioners admit they will be hard-pressed to get the issue on Nov. 2 ballots.
County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said ballots for the November election had to be mailed to military personnel no later than Sept. 18 and in order to meet that deadline she would have to begin preparation by late August, which prompted Commissioner Dick Works to ask about a spring vote. Riebel noted a countywide vote would occur in April.
COMMISSIONER Gary McIntosh said it was important to give HCA ample opportunity to weigh in about management of Allen County Hospital, including if it became a not-for-profit hospital fully owned by Allen County.
Heismeyer, though not in position to speak fully for her employer on short notice, said she was confident HCA would be interested in exploring management opportunities regardless of what form they took.
Commissioners refrained from making any decision, awaiting full reports and recommendations from Hospital Facilities Group, the Wichita consulting firm hired to survey the hospital from physical and patient perspectives, and the citizens’ Hospital Facilities Commission.
Wichita experts have examined the hospital’s structure, patient load, service area and financial aspects, all which they will roll into their recommendation. ACH opened in the early 1950s.
HFC members have toured six area hospitals and listened to comments from a broad spectrum of Allen Countians.
A meeting of the two groups and commissioners scheduled for July 7 will be rescheduled later in July.
HFG representatives expect to have a recommendation by mid- to late July.
COMMISSIONERS scheduled a public meeting with ACH staff for Monday evening starting at 6 o’clock in the hospital’s basement conference room. Heismeyer encouraged giving as many staff as possible, including those at work, an opportunity to voice their concerns about employment, management, ownership and their image in the community.
The idea of the public session arose from a June 10 staff meeting during which several ACH employees expressed concerns that they had not been given a chance to give their views to county commissioners.
Bill Shirley, an Iola commissioner, told commissioners the city would be “very supportive of what you decide to do.”
Works asked what role the city might assume, a question Shirley couldn’t answer because “we’ve had no formal discussions.” Works also thought the city would want to be involved in site selection, if the decision is to build a new hospital, because it would be involved in utilities and street work.
Shirley added, “This is supposed to be the Year of the Hospital — a declaration made at a Thrive Allen County meeting early in the year — and I think we need to move forward.”
McIntosh said he would meet with city commissioners July 13, “when we should know a lot more than we do today.”
