Hospital, heal thyself

The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) is looking to form a tax district which would help provide funding for the hospital.

Stephanie Hinkle, MHCC Director of Strategic Operations, spoke with the Saratoga Sun to discuss the initiative and the process for the potential district.

The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) will vote during the August 6 meeting to determine whether the formation of the hospital district will be put on the November 2024 ballot. If the resolution during that meeting is successful, voters will then determine if the district should be created.

“Hospital districts are fairly common across the country. They’re a way to fulfill an essential role within the state and local healthcare systems because they provide that essential financial support to help healthcare succeed within rural communities,” Hinkle said. “By pursuing this district, it extends financial opportunities that are not in place today to help us with long-term financial planning needs.”

Hinkle said the benefits from the district would not be realized in the short-term, as it would be one-and-a-half or two years before the funding from the district “comes to fruition.” The focus of the hospital district would be to take “proactive steps” in the face of a changing healthcare system.

If the district is formed, citizens within the new district would have an increase in property taxes. The current proposal for the tax increases is based on 3 mills and 2023 assessed land values. This means a house with a value of $275,000 would cost a taxpayer approximately $6.53 a month to the district. The district will provide an estimated $1.5 million to the hospital annually.

“When we say financial component it does equate to taxes for citizens,” Hinkle said. “Those are not words citizens always like to hear, but knowing the why behind it is a really important part of the message as well.”

She emphasized the importance of the funding to the hospital.

“In addition to services and meeting the healthcare needs of our residents, there is an economic impact as well,” Hinkle said. “There is a ripple effect across the county.”

Not only does the hospital itself provide jobs, but it has a positive impact on other employers in the county.

“It becomes really challenging to recruit to an area when you cannot demonstrate there are some really basic services in place and a big piece of that is the demonstration of a hospital,” she said. “The value of the goods and services this operation provides to the entire county, is that worth the $6.53 coffee that I treat myself to? I would have to argue that absolutely yes it is.”

As a part of forming a hospital district, a new board will be created to oversee MHCC. The board will be separate from the current MHCC Board of Trustees, and will have elected instead of appointed officials.

“That’s something else voters will be seeing on their November ballot, if we get the go ahead on August 6,” Hinkle said. “It will be opened up for individuals to run for the new hospital district and be on that board … The existing board would very much be a part of the transition process and be able to provide historical knowledge and expertise to anyone new who might be joining the picture.”

The proposed areas for the district include the northern part of Medicine Bow, Hanna, Sinclair and Rawlins. Areas in the two current active healthcare districts and the Platte and Little Snake River Valleys are not included.

“We wanted to be really realistic in our objectives. The reality of it is that when we talk about Baggs or Medicine Bow … they have their own health districts, those are models that are already in place. They already have a funding mechanism,” Hinkle said. “When we talk about Saratoga, Encampment, Riverside - there’s another entity in Saratoga with another hospital, so we’re being very cognisant of that.”

Citizens who live outside of the proposed district boundaries will not have the proposal on their ballot.

The MHCC is planning on doing educational outreach within the district boundaries to provide information to voters.

The BOCCC is accepting public comments on the proposal before the August 6 meeting.

“As we come into this election season, it is really important we become informed citizens and take the time to do some homework and attend public meetings,” Hinkle said.

The August 6 meeting will take place at the Carbon Building - Courthouse Annex in Rawlins at 9 a.m.