The monthly meeting of the Hospital Board was held March 22, at the library in St. Helens. There were four interested persons from the public that attended the meeting. The agenda was short, and the business of the board held nothing new on the development of the proposed Critical Access Hospital. Chairperson Hiede ask if there were any questions from the public, and that there was a 5-minute time limit per person. Tammy Maygra ask if the information that she had heard from a prior commissioners meeting that month was factual, pertaining to Pamela Powell Pulliam spokesperson for the Health District, who attended the Commissioners meeting by request of Commissioner Bernhard. The information that Maygra wanted cleared up was if the facility was built, would they have a doctor on site at the facility at all times, or one on call as hinted by Powell? Who finally answered that the board could not guarantee a doctor to be on site at the proposed facility.
The answer given by chairperson Heide was clear that a doctor would not necessary be on site to administer medical treatment for emergencies but the facility would have someone who would be qualified to treat emergencies, Maygra also asked, how much would it would cost for the intended out sourced CEO (Legacy Health Systems) to be involved? She questioned the percentage of the gross that would go to Legacy, and if the hospital did not make a profit, (The boards own information suggests that the facility would be in the red for several years) where would the money come from to pay the CEO?

The answer given was that they did not know, that there was no contract yet with Legacy and that they would not venture an estimate on that question.

A few more questions were asked ranging from cutting the therapy dept, to the change in the dietary dept, which was explained as the kitchen, where as the food will be brought in by an out side contractor. Those questions were answered by we needed to cut costs and these are the things that we decided that we could do without. Heide than said no more questions but it was apparent that there were more questions that the meeting goer's wanted to be asked.

The board told the public at an earlier meeting, that the size of the hospital would be cut, and so would the number of beds, 15 to 12, and that the cost to build the hospital would be around $20 million instead of the $10 million that the voters agreed to fund in the 2004 election.

The board than discussed, that they were still trying to get the rules for a CAH (Critical Access Hospital)  to be changed for St. Helens, and that they were hopeful that they would get the CAH designation. Unfortunately they have been trying this route for quite some time with out success. They have pitched a plea to congressman Wu, who in turn said that the designation could not be changed to accommodate St. Helens, now they are trying to get Senator Wyden to do the same.   So far no news from Wydens" office.

Commissioner Bernhard also has wrote to Wyden on behalf of the hospital board, and she is still waiting for a response from the senator.

As the rules and regulations for a CAH has been enforced by the federal government the success of this hospital seems to be doubtful, The 35 mile rule is being enforced by the feds and this leaves St. Helens out of the CAH designation. They will need this designation in order to receive full Medicare reimbursements on patient bills.. St. Helens is well within 35 miles of an emergency hospital. St. Helens has St. Johns Hospital in Longview to its North, Good Samaritan, Emanuel, OHSU, and St. Vincent to its South.

Another problem for people using the proposed short term facility is insurance coverage.  if they can not treat you at this facility than you will be transported to one of the larger hospitals to the south and you will be charged another ambulance transport.  Will your insurance cover this second ambulance bill?   I for one would rather be taken to a larger hospital, for immediate treatment by a REAL DOCTOR, instead of waiting for a doctor, or being treated by some one less than a doctor, and only charged for one transport.

The people who voted for this facility expected the facility to be built in 2007.   We are 1/3 of the way through 2007 and the board still does not have land purchased for this facility.  They still do not have a certificate of need, and are about $10 million short of the necessary money to build their hospital.

They seem to be sinking fast with no help in sight.

Getting a doctor to work at the facility might be a bigger issue than the board is letting on.  Legacy presently is having a hard time keeping doctors at their existing clinic in town. Legacy reported that they are short doctors in Portland and pulled one more doctor from their clinic.  They say that they will be replacing him with a doctor out of Vancouver, Wa.  How long will this doctor stay? We will be lucky if he stays longer than 1 year.  The doctors at Legacy are over worked with patient visits and they are booked up months in advance.

My question is, if Legacy  as a huge established hospital/ medical institution can't get doctors for their clinic,  where will we be able to get doctors for our small under fund Critical Access Hospital?