Hospital candidates discuss issues

March 05--During the next few months a new set of candidates will be vying against seasoned board members for a spot on the Ector County Hospital District board.

Seven candidates in three districts will be listed on the ballot, with an additional write in candidate for District 3. Hospital District 1 member Judy Hayes will face Bryn Dodd; District 5 member David Nelson will face both Julie Molland and Don Hallmark; and District 7 member Virgil Trower will face Benjamin Quiroz.

Write-in candidate Adela Vasquez is running unopposed. Ector County Elections Assistant Administrator Lisa Sertuche said Vasquez will win the election whether anyone writes her name in the provided spot or not since she is the only candidate in District 3.

New candidates Dodd, Molland, Hallmark and Quiroz all had one thing in common when discussing their reason to file--Medical Health Center retirees.

The Ector County Hospital District board replaced free health insurance for approximately 380 retirees at Medical Center Hospital with a Health Reimbursement Account system last year, which led to a lawsuit against the board and hospital administration.

While some candidates called it "a lack of integrity," hospital board members said it was a necessary move in the midst of failing tax revenue.

"There's no integrity in hiring people and saying, 'we'll give you this if you work for us,' and then take it away from them," Hallmark said.

Quiroz said with the influx of sales tax during the last oil boom there shouldn't have been a need to cut those kinds of benefits from people that have dedicated their entire lives to the organization.

"My father's one of the retirees that lost his benefits so I've seen firsthand how the recent decisions by the administration and the board have affected individuals in our community," Dodd said.

"The thing that's really disturbing about all of that is that it was just done," Molland said. "The decision was just made by the board and these are our tax dollars. Let us decide. At least give us the opportunity to come in and speak and see if there's another (way). I mean, it was just a complete surprise when they did that."

The decision was made during an October board meeting. Molland said when she attended a September meeting, when the board wanted to raise taxes, she saw firsthand a lot of people get up and speak with valid concerns.

"With those concerns they also mentioned how this increase in tax would also create a hardship on them and their families and they were very sincere," she said.

While Molland said she did not have an opportunity to speak, she did get to listen and, in her opinion, the reaction from the board was "very dismissive."

Nelson said to-date they have funded a little over $2 million to 366 Health Care Reimbursement Accounts for the retirees, which can be used for paying insurance premiums. The insurance plan they identified is about $900 a month, or about $12,000 a year to help individuals pay for an insurance plan who are not Medicare eligible.

"It could be adjusted based on the pricing of insurance and everything else," Nelson said, adding that things could change, especially with everything going on in Washington D.C. right now. "But there is a commitment to continue funding. As to what level, it just depends on what the price is as far as the insurance and everything."

Nelson said the $12,000 amount was based off of a Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue HMO Choice Plan that is about $900 a month. He added that for the retirees that are from other communities, it has been beneficial since they were previously unable to get insurance in their area because their doctors were out of network.

Hallmark said what the board gave retirees is a joke.

"Some of them can't afford what they gave them so some of them are having to do without," he said. "It's so wrapped up in an Obamacare envelope that they can't use it or it doesn't work for their spouses. It's just not what they had."

BALANCING THE BUDGET

The newer candidates believe the board hasn't been budgeting properly, which also accounted for increased taxes.

Trower said the hospital district is set up to get sales tax and ad valorem tax, but if the sales tax goes up, they reduce ad valorem tax.

"Now the sales tax is down, but of course nobody wants to raise the ad valorem tax. So you lose money there," he said. "But that's the way it was set up 30 years ago, or whenever it was, and it's not really a good system the way they've got it because the sales tax can fall so sharp and then it takes years to be able to build the ad valorem tax up."

Trower said they are just now finally getting somewhat caught up, but for years it "started out high," but they didn't know how quickly it was going to fall.

"It fell pretty quick," he said, adding "there's not much you can do," when facing a 15-cent cap on ad valorem tax and are already around eight cents.

Hayes said the tax dollars are needed because the hospital has to provide services because they are obligated by the law.

"We cannot turn anyone away from care," she said. "We have to provide care to the uninsured and the indigent."

Hayes said there are shortfalls every single month because they are required to meet certain guidelines.

"Our cost for indigent care is probably twice the amount of sales tax dollars we bring in. So there are other ways, from uncompensated care we get from the state, stuff like that, that helps subsidize that, but the total cost of those patients is about twice the amount of sales tax and ad valorem tax we bring in," Nelson said.

Tax dollars make up approximately 15 percent of total revenue with the rest coming from patient payments, Medicaid payments and supplement payments from the state, he said.

So far this year alone the hospital is already facing a $9 million shortfall between district obligations. Trower said what people don't realize are things like how they take care of inmates at the jail, costing $1 million per year, and how the south side clinic costs more than $1 million per month.

Hallmark said he thinks the reason they are trying to get more tax dollars is because they overbuilt. Both Hallmark and Quiroz talked about visiting the clinics and emergency centers around town and how there were little to no people in the waiting rooms, with seven to nine staff members just standing around.

"They have so many different branches right now, different places operating all over Ector County," Dodd said, asking, "Is it worth them being open?"

Molland also questioned what the purpose is of a brand new building was if nobody is walking through the door.

Trower, who has been on the board for about 20 years, said the three new clinics they built were to keep people out of the emergency room.

"That's the most expensive place to treat anybody is the emergency room and it's working because we're getting more people all the time going to the clinics," he said.

In regard to setting money aside, Trower said there were issues with the bond rating.

"We've set money aside, but for your bond rating and stuff, you have to have so many days to keep your bond rating up. Somebody will say, well, you've got $50 to $60 million, that's a lot of money. That's not. That's just 45 days operating something like that in the hospital."

Molland said that for every dollar that's being spent, she believes the board needs to ask if it is providing good, quality health care for the citizens of this county and provide better transparency.

"When you've been on the board as long as some of these board members have, in my opinion, I believe it's coming down to letting administration do what they want without really asking questions. I feel like they've stopped asking questions," she said.

Molland added it is not her goal to do away with administration, but she does want to work with them and try to figure out how they can best serve the members of the community.

Vasquez, the write-in candidate for District 3, did not return any phone calls made by the Odessa American for this article.

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