During his treasurer’s report, commissioner Robert Walling told the Hospital Commission Wednesday it had in its various accounts a total of $2,310,000. He added they receive $15,000 monthly, so, “It’s adding up,” he noted.
He also announced he renegotiated a five-year deal on a $1.5 million account at a local bank, and the commission will henceforth earn an extra $22,000 annually.
Commissioners suggested various strategies for effectively investing and handling their funds while acknowledging their attorney’s advice to hold on to every cent in case it were ever up to the commission to pay staff at Eureka Springs Hospital.
Commissioner M.J. Sell, acting chair of the meeting, said she had asked staff at ESH to come up with a monthly number for what it would take to operate the hospital. Vicki Andert, chief of nursing at ESH, answered that she had been denied that information from Allegiance, the company that leases operation of the facility.
Further discussion of being stewards of the funds led Sell to state she had seen as member of a different board the benefits of partnering with the Carroll County Community Foundation as an avenue for conscientious use of their funds. She introduced Janell Robertson, executive director of the CCCF, who explained how CCCF gets and distributes funds. She said she could administer a fund endowed by the Hospital Commission in whatever way the commission wanted with the possibility of decent interest.
Robertson explained various ways CCCF could be of service to a group or an individual with an amount of money and a purpose, and annually they put back $90,000 into the community.
Walling mentioned there have been downturn economic years where investments lost money. “If there’s a chance of losing, I can’t do it,” he asserted.
Commissioner Suzanne Tourtelot was also protective of the funds “we’re holding in trust for the benefit of the hospital.”
“We can get the money back,” Sell noted. Robertson added she could also set up a memorial fund for people if the commission had referrals.
Commissioner Barbara Dicks said she did not like investing their money in the stock market, and Walling observed, “Our current investments are safe and we won’t risk anything,” and conversation about investing with CCCF ended.
Dicks then admitted, however, she liked the idea of people setting up endowments for ESH, and Robertson said, “I can help with that.”
Fix it or not fix it
Newly-seated Commissioner Dr. John House noted the current physical condition of ESH turns away patients. He has heard patients say they do not want to go to ESH because it is dirty, but it is not. It is old, House said, and old translates as dirty. House wanted instead a facility that would make Eureka Springs proud.
Sell explained the 15-mile encumbrance which will force the replacement facility for ESH to be located at least 15 miles from Mercy Hospital in Berryville.
House wondered about a gradual rehabilitation of the facility. Walling replied the commission could not spend money on the facility because Allegiance leases it. “They pay us,” Walling observed.
Dicks pointed out a person would think the agency leasing operation of the facility would want it to look first-rate.
House continued that the commission should nevertheless plan for the happenstance it had to operate ESH if Allegiance bailed. He said he just wanted to keep the conversation current.
Next meeting will be Monday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m., at ECHO Clinic.