Commissioners at the Oct. 15 Hospital Commission meeting expressed dissatisfaction with the fact Allegiance Health Care is four and a half months late on lease payments, equal to $67,500. Chair Michael Merry explained he was told the problem stemmed from MediCare being late paying Critical Access facilities.
Commissioner John House did not accept that explanation and said the purpose of the commission is to ensure the hospital stays open. He said they deserve an explanation for the delinquent payments, and Allegiance should not abuse the relationship.
New commissioner Christopher Baranyk said the explanations were just excuses, and Allegiance is a large corporation that can pay its bills on time. He stated it was time to get on a path toward collecting the back rent.
House agreed with Baranyk but emphasized it is Allegiance that owns the Critical Care designation. Baranyk suggested they could see if someone else with that designation were interested, “someone who cares.”
Merry insisted they meet with Allegiance before they go shopping for a new lessee, and Baranyk agreed but it also made sense to have a backup plan. House then proposed they send a letter to Allegiance stating the commission is aware of violations of the contract and requests an answer within a stated time.
Baranyk commented the commission should be able to cooperate with Allegiance and still stick up for itself, but the fact that Allegiance was four months late in rent and in violation of the contract with no formal communication did not bode well for him.
Commissioner Barbara Dicks said she has spoken with ESH CEO Vicki Andert several times about this, but there has been no communication from the Allegiance home office in Shreveport.
House said he had photographed several structural deficits at ESH that Allegiance is responsible for maintaining – further evidence that Allegiance is currently in violation of the contract. He agreed commissioners need a formal plan for collecting back rent and he would write the letter to Allegiance, but a second letter, if necessary, should come from an attorney. Mayoral Assistant Kim Stryker said City Attorney Tim Weaver could help.
Baranyk was confident there would be other health care companies that would love to take over operations of ESH. He contended the commission has been taking many things for granted in the relationship with Allegiance, and he keeps finding more questions. The fact commissioners cannot speak to the principals about this, for example, is a big question. “I don’t want to go to war, but war is not off the table for me,” he said.
Investment strategy
Dicks presented options for reinvesting their money market account of $138,000. One choice involved a variable interest rate higher than a competitor, but which could fluctuate up or down any day. Baranyk asked commissioners to consider if the transfer would be worth the move in the long run and urged against making a transfer on impulse. He said they should get formal bids like the city does.
Commissioners decided to get bids and make a decision on investing money market funds at the December meeting.
Meeting time changed
Merry asked the commission if they could agree on a different meeting time and day because their meeting time of 12:30 p.m. on the third Monday of the month does not work well for some new commissioners. After some calendar scratching, they decided beginning in November to meet at 6 p.m. on the third Monday of each month, so the next meeting is Monday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m.