The Sweetwater County Commissioners had a busy 2015, debating issues involving Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and a proposed justice center which will house both of the county’s circuit courts.
The year started with a new face being added to the group. Republican candidate Randy “Doc” Wendling won election to the position last November, resulting in former Sweetwater County Sheriff Gary Bailiff being edged out of the five-member group. Incumbent commissioners, Democrat Reid West and Republican John Kolb, were able to secure re-election during that campaign.
In April, MHSC officials approached the commissioners to approve a bond request for its proposed ambulatory surgery center. The center is proposed as a building focused on surgery, while expanding office space for the hospital.
Hospital officials argue use of such surgery centers are becoming the preferred method for insurance companies when they decide to support claims on healthcare policies.
They also argue the centers make surgery more economical and would stabilize surgical schedules at MHSC, while also lowering the risk of infections and other complications as surgery would not be conducted within the hospital itself.
At a total cost of $50 million, the commissioners unanimously denied the hospital’s request, citing upcoming budgetary shortfalls as a result of declining revenues from oil and gas production.
The commissioners also voiced fears of placing the hospital in so much debt that it would be unable to pay the entire sum, which includes debt from previous expansions.
“There’s no way I will take an action that jeopardizes the public hospital,” Commissioner Wally Johnson said at the time.
The commissioners also suggested the hospital create a public campaign for sixth-penny tax funding on a future ballot. Hospital officials and board members are not receptive to that idea as they believe the hospital has approached voters twice for sixth-penny tax funding in the last decade and believe the hospital can pay off its debt with revenue.
Discussion about the ambulatory surgery center continued throughout the year, with MHSC hosting a public forum to help educate residents why the center is needed in the community. Earlier this month, hospital board members and commissioners discussed the surgery center again, with commissioners reiterating their suggestion about using the sixth-penny tax as a means of funding construction.
The county’s proposed justice center, which will be located near the Sweetwater County Detention Center. The center will unite the Rock Springs and Green River Circuit Courts under one building, solving the spacial and security problems the Rock Springs Circuit Court currently has at the county’s C Street building in Rock Springs.
However, funding for the building has been a topic of debate for the commissioners. Some, such as Johnson, believe the county can and should pay for the building out of its reserves. However, others think a bond issue might be a good idea to cover at least a portion of construction costs, allowing the county to save some of its reserve funding. County Treasurer Robb Slaughter said he fears a situation where the county experiences long term impacts from the decline in oil and gas revenues.
“What I’m afraid of, if we were to see a long term downturn ... we may not be able to (fund human services,)” he said in a meeting Dec. 1.
Projections have suggested the county will see a possible shortfall of $6 million in revenue between the current budget cycle and the next cycle, which starts July 1, 2016.
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