It is going to take more than a band-aid to solve the problems of the proposed and now defunct Critical Access Hospital. The board of the Columbia Health District finds themselves with a multitude of problems that seem to be escalating. Starting with a tighter interpretation by the federal government of federal regulations concerning the 35-mile limit established between hospitals. The original rule was adopted for remote areas like Enterprise, Oregon not areas like St. Helens, Oregon.

This regulation change makes it impossible for the district to qualify for a "Certificate of Need" under ORS 442.315(1) for Critical Access Hospitals, the district needs this certificate before they can begin to build any facility. With out a Certificate of need they simply cannot qualify to be a Critical Access Hospital. The only other option that is available to this board is to build a hospital, which will depend on Medicaid reimbursements.  Proposed Medicaid reimbursements may pay a percentage of a set amount of the actual cost of services.

This option will undoubtedly cause a short fall in revenues that would be critical in this hospitals ability to stay solvent. Medicaid reimbursements were one of the reasons that our old hospital failed. Evidently the Hospital Coalition did not explore deeply enough the dynamics of building a Critical Access Hospital.  They proposed to the taxpayers a ballot levy for a facility that was questionable whether it could be built. The board ignored important information from paid consultants, and several studies that would have supported the facts establishing the negative aspects of proceeding with the project; all of the information should have been presented to the voters. Which it was not!
Voters now are paying for a completely different facility in all aspects, a facility that no one has had had the opportunity to vote on, a facility that is quite opposite in patient care and delinquent in financial reimbursements. A facility, which will require the taxpayer to come up with an additional $800,000.00 plus per year, HOW? Most likely by MORE TAXES, at a grand total so far of 76 cents per thousand plus the automatic 3% increase yearly. And they are not done yet!

When I questioned the cost of the facility from approximately 9-10 million to 15 million plus the accrued interest on the figures of 9-10 million= 21 million plus, I was told by Pamela Powell spokesperson for the Hospital Board that the cost difference was because of hurricane Katrina! That they could not get materials to build the facility and that all the builders were off to Florida to rebuild. WOW what a stretch!
For the hospital spokesperson to use Katrina as an excuse for their incompetent decisions and expect the taxpayer to believe this fallacy is beyond reason.
It is my belief that the Hospital Board should go before the Columbia County Commissioners (like they did before to get the levy on the ballot by referendum), and ask the Commissioners for a referendum to get the levy on the ballot to repel the hospital measure. I believe that it is the duty and responsibility of the Commissioners who voted for the hospital referendum, which were Commissioners Tony Hyde and Rita Bernhard to join with Commissioner Joe Corsiglia and correct an unjust and unmerited tax on the citizens in the Hospital District.