Proponents push for grants, loans to fund health clinic

Proponents push for grants, loans to fund health clinic

August 11, 2001

Hospital boards to meet

There will be a special meeting between the Montezuma County Hospital District Board and Southwest Memorial’s operating arm, Southwest Health System, on Monday, Aug. 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the hospital cafeteria.

The purpose of the joint conference is to discuss a proposed lease agreement and construction timetable between the MCHD board and management of the Vista Grande Nursing Home, Continuum Health Resources.

Continuum plans to build a new nursing home on campus land donated by the hospital district. The current Vista Grande building is being eyed for much-needed Southwest expansion.

By Jim Mimiaga
Journal Staff Writer

Proponents of a low-cost health clinic in Mancos received a boost from the Montezuma County Hospital District board Wednesday.

The board agreed to become the fiscal agent for a $150,000 Caring for Colorado grant slated to remodel a former, but now vacant, proposed health-care clinic on Railroad Avenue.

In addition, the board voted unanimously to apply for a $245,000 loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in order to purchase the building. Approval of both agreements is subject to loan-package review and the fiscal-agent agreement, but the deal looks promising.

"The Caring for Colorado grant targets rural health-care needs, so I think we have a very good chance for that," said board chair Randy Smith.

The USDA loan, at 4 percent interest, also looks promising, given the $1.4 million in cash assets held by the district, and the ways a low-cost clinic could improve access to care for county residents and beyond. Montezuma County was designated as an under-served medical-care area by the Department of Health and Human Services in April, a prerequisite for federal funding.

The loan application, submitted to the board by County Administrator Tom Weaver, "looks pretty standard," said MCHD attorney Kelly McCabe. Payments, if approved, would be $800 per month over a 40-year term. The board pointed out that the loan payment would be mostly covered by rent paid by a dentist who has already agreed to lease a portion of the building.

"With the mortgage covered by the rental, we won’t make money but we really won’t lose any either. It’s a real win situation," said director Fred DeWitt.

The clinic, to be operated by Valley-Wide Resources, will provide primary health care for any patient who walks through the door, including Native Americans and illegal immigrants. Fees will be on a sliding scale based on income, or free; all insurance will be honored; dental care will be available; and hours will be set to accommodate working families.

Valley-Wide, which runs 13 successful clinics in the San Luis Valley and three in the Durango area, operates on guaranteed federal grants annually earmarked to aid rural areas lacking adequate health care.

Mancos and its surrounding ranch lands have been without a town doctor for over a year.

Key to Valley-Wide’s success has been its expertise in negotiating the bureaucratic red tape involved in a multitude of federal and state health-care reimbursement programs. A lot of uninsured and poor persons qualify for such programs, but have not applied or do not realize financial help is available, says Valley-Wide CEO Marguerite Salazar.

The opening of the clinic hinges on a $500,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. Valley-Wide was reportedly approved for funding, but is not expected to receive the money until after Aug. 31. Once awarded, it is renewed every year, Salazar said.

The board also:

• Heard from hospital CEO Bob Peterson on physician-recruitment issues. A much-needed surgeon has signed a contract with Southwest, Peterson said.

Dr. Kevin Matteson will join Dr. James Hanosh and Dr. William Rainer on the surgery team. The new surgeon will conduct general surgery and help the hospital better cover on-call surgery shifts, thereby reducing the need to divert patients to other nearby hospitals. Also, Dr. Tracy Lippard, an internal-medicine physician, has joined Dr. Carla Demby’s practice.

• Discussed capital improvements. Peterson explained that a remodel to upgrade the hospital’s outpatient surgery center needs more space. He is seeking approval from hospital management for a $2.5 million budget that would expand the ground-floor operating room westward. A second story is proposed to be framed-in also so that eventually the adjacent birthing center upstairs can expand its services.

"Its more cost-effective and less disruptive to frame in the second story and just keep it as a loft for now rather than go back later to build up, because then you have to close down the first floor," said finance officer George Brisson.

The outpatient center is part of a $14 million master plan for improvements at the aging facility, built in 1976. To make room for the outpatient or ambulatory center, administration and the business offices will be moved into modulars behind the hospital

Peterson said that it is a possibility that district funds may be requested to help build the add-on.

• Heard from MCHD attorney Kelly McCabe regarding negotiations with Continuum Health Resource on a new nursing home planned to replace Vista Grande. McCabe said that in a letter Continuum officials indicated they still plan to begin construction on the new home soon, pending successful lease negotiations and financing.