Almost one year ago to the day, the Allen County Regional Hospital board of trustees created a steering committee to evaluate the prospect of constructing a new medical arts building on the hospital campus on North Kentucky Street.
At that meeting, the committee identified three basic questions around which their preliminary investigations would circle: 1) What is the building going to look like? 2) Who are its expected tenants and what are their respective specialties? 3) How is it going to be funded?
On Tuesday, that group briefed the full board on their progress so far.
“We’re looking at a [project cost] of between $2-$3 million,” explained trustee Patti Boyd, the committee’s chair. “And that’s a big ‘in between’ — it could be $2.2 million, it could be $2.9.”
While the idea of an updated, more conveniently located, medical arts building has been in discussion ever since the advent of the new (2013) hospital, the practical push to involve the community is just getting underway.
In keeping with the preparatory mode, the discussion Tuesday evening was broad, touching primarily — but, again, only lightly — on the question of funding.
Besides possible pledges from individuals and groups, the committee is in talks with the USDA regarding a potential loan. The board will also likely reach out to the county for assistance. “I think that’s our three-point approach in terms of the potential players,” said Boyd.
Following on from a suggestion advanced by hospital CEO Tony Thompson, Boyd backed the notion that the project’s success very likely depends on a dedicated level of civic engagement : “Right now, it may make more sense to develop a campaign that shows the county that we’re trying to meet a need and that it is a need that is agreed upon by the members of the community. … It’s not a staggering amount of money, like building a hospital, but it’s a big number.”
With an effective campaign, said Thompson, “the county can see that the citizenry has backed this project.”
“The message that the stakeholders need to hear,” added board chair Harry Lee, “is that this” — the willingness to plumb every source of outside funding — “is the key that will keep this from becoming a property tax obligation.”
County counselor Alan Weber agreed that such an effort would also further endear the county to the hospital’s cause, as would a frank discussion of ACRH’s finances. “[County commissioners] need to understand that, even though we’re tight on money, this is about the long-term success of the hospital and about increasing volume and revenue.”
For all the years that we’ve been talking about this, said Boyd, “[an adjacent medical arts building] has been seen as a necessary component of this project. By that, I don’t just mean the building. I mean the project of being a hospital for this county. And this is the next vital step in fulfilling our mission. Certainly, I am behind it and believe in it, and hope that we can figure out how to turn believing in it into paying for it.”
LATER, trustees approved: the 2017 budget presented at the previous meeting, the financial report as presented by CFO Larry Peterson, and the medical executive committee report.
FINALLY, trustees recognized with kind applause their colleagues Karen Gilpin, Jay Kretzmeier and Dr. Brian Wolfe (ex officio), who are concluding their terms of service to the board.
