Two Sweetwater County Commissioners allege the public is losing faith in Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s administration, an allegation hospital board members deny.
During a discussion Tuesday afternoon between the commissioners and members of the hospital’s board of trustees, Commissioner Wally Johnson said county residents have told him they’ve lost confidence in the hospital’s administration, specifically saying that sentiment doesn’t extend to the board members themselves. Later, Commissioner John Kolb also stated he has heard similar statements from residents.
“I see it as an issue,” Kolb said.
The two groups were discussing the hospital’s proposed ambulatory surgery center, a building dedicated to surgery procedures that would also house additional offices for doctors. The hospital’s administration initially approached the commissioners to approve revenue bonds to pay for construction of the building, which completed would cost approximately $50 million. The commissioners unanimously denied that request, citing uneasiness about the hospital’s ability to pay off combined debt from its earlier expansion projects and the debt it would incur from the surgery center’s construction. The hospital has since researched alternative methods of funding construction.
Board President Artis Kalivas strongly denied the commissioners’ statements about residents losing faith in the hospital administration, with he and other board members saying they have heard the opposite from county residents.
Johnson’s comments came on the heels of several questions he asked regarding the hospital’s finances and its affiliation with the University of Utah. Johnson asked the county’s auditors to review the hospital’s audit while they prepared the county audit. Admitting the hospital received a good audit, Johnson said auditors told him the hospital’s revenues have stayed stable while costs have increased due to contracts with doctors. Johnson questioned the amount of money paid to doctors, wondering if some doctors had signed lucrative contracts with the hospital. He also questioned how much control the University of Utah has over the hospital due to the affiliation between the two.
Kalivas said regulations are in place regarding how much a doctor can be paid and how practices are appraised and purchased. While the hospital has signed more doctors, building practices does take time. Hospital board member Dr. Grant Christiansen said one thing being overlooked is doctors also bring in revenue through routine services and tests. Regarding the University of Utah affiliation, Kalivas said the agreement recognizes the two organizations as separate entities. While the hospital wants to attract basic-care patients with their services, Kalivas said the area’s population cannot support specialty practices, which necessitates the hospital’s affiliations with other groups.
“We’re trying to look out for the people of the county” Kalivas said.
Like with their vote earlier this year, the commissioners continue to question if the hospital could pay back a total debt Commissioner Reid West claims would be approximately $100 million. Right now, the hospital is only paying interest on bonds used to pay for approximately $43 million in expansion work initiated in 2006. The hospital will start paying the principal on those bonds in 2023. Sixth-penny tax revenues funded a portion of that expansion and payed for its more recent medical office building project, which is the major reason the hospital board doesn’t want to approach voters for another sixth-penny tax allocation; they don’t want to go to voters with a third funding request within a decade. Kalivas said it would be a mistake for the board to go for a third sixth-penny tax request.
However, both Johnson and Kolb believe the tax is they way to pay for surgery center.
“Let it go to the voters,” Johnson said. “They should decide.”
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