Appraisers picked to settle hospital land dispute

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May 19, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Local real estate agents John Brocker and Kent Thompson and Ivor “Nobby” Davis, the new mayor of Humboldt and proprietor of Opie’s Family Restaurant in Chanute, were selected Wednesday afternoon to appraise Eldon Strickler’s land at the site of a new Allen County Hospital.
Strickler, Colony, has not agreed to sell his three acres along East U.S. 54 to the county for the purpose of the hospital. A second appraisal is necessary for the proceedings of eminent domain.
The three have 45 days to determine what they deem is a fair price for the land. If either Strickler or the county disputes that price, the case will go before a jury trial. The average price for the other 10 parcels of land was $35,600 an acre.
Alan Weber, counselor to hospital trustees and Bob Johnson, attorney for Strickler, met with District Chief Judge Dan Creitz to settle on the three appraisers. Two must deal in real estate; the third does not.

HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES are anxious to have an agreement settled with Hospital Corporation of America, Joyce Heismeyer, chief executive officer of the hospital said at Tuesday night’s meeting of hospital trustees.
“There’s definite unrest among employees whether HCA will be retained,” Heismeyer said.
Negotiations with the company that now manages the hospital with a lease from the county are ongoing, said Patti Boyd.
“We’re very, very close,” to deciding whether to retain HCA in a management role, she said.
“We have an obligation as trustees to get the best deal for the hospital as we can,” in regards to wages and benefits for its employees, Boyd said.
Also discussed was the current lease agreement with HCA and as to how long that should be kept. Trustees must give HCA a six-month notice before it breaks its current contract. A big benefit of the current contract is that HCA is held responsible for the upkeep of the deteriorating building.
All of its heating and cooling, plumbing and electricity systems are in danger of failing, Heismeyer said.
Chuck Wells, adviser to trustees, suggested they keep the relationship with HCA as is, giving notice six months before the projected move into the new hospital. That way, HCA will pick up the tab for any major systems failures that may occur over the next year.
Groundbreaking is expected in mid-September with a move-in date sometime in mid-2013.
“It would be better to keep with HCA as long as you’re in the old hospital,” Wells said. Trustees had considered assuming control of the hospital — and its balance sheet — the first of the year.
The number of patients at the hospital is “healthy,” Heismeyer said. “This year looks good so far, but the big unknown is if a major breakdown is on the horizon.”
Getting an orthopedic surgeon on staff would help attract more patients, she said, but she has had no success in those recruiting efforts.
In recent months doctors in pulmonary, cardiology and neurology have agreed to come to Iola to make regular visits from their home offices in Kansas City and Wichita, Heismeyer said. Those services help, but aren’t as lucrative as having in-house specialists such as an orthopedic surgeon.
Wells said an increase in patients should be expected once the new hospital is built.
“Before the crash of 2008, new hospitals experienced a 15-20 percent increase in new business,” he said. “We can’t expect that much now; a more modest number, though, would not be unreasonable.”
A “killer” to hospitals today are unpaid bills, Wells said. “Bad debts have gone up tremendously.”

IN THE GOOD news department, Terracon, the environmental firm hired to do geotechnical borings at the site of the new hospital submitted costs that were below those expected for those procedures, Harry Lee, board chairman, said.
Still to be decided is exactly where the hospital will be positioned. Architects with Health Facilities Group have said that after completion of all the soil testing on the site that they will be able to recommend where the hospital would best be situated.
Looking ahead to its final design, Trustee Sean McReynolds said he would appreciate public input.
“There may be some really good ideas out there that we don’t know about,” he said.

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