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Read comments (3)According to an article in the Sweet Springs Herald last week, six of 11 members of the hospital board voted to sell the center to a private company in early July.
Quoting board member Dean Dohrman of LaMonte, who disclosed the information in a letter to the LaMonte city council, the Herald reported Dohrman said he had voted against the proposal, and believes that other communities represented on the board voted for it because their communities were to receive expanded services, while LaMonte would be out of the picture.
The center opened in November 2005, with significant help from the Sweet Springs community, including a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant, $200,000 in city funds and a lease-purchase agreement for $100,000.
In all, more than $1 million in community and taxpayer funds went into the project, according to the Herald article. That's on top of $200,000 from Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority and a $6.9 million guaranteed loan in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Arkansas National Bank.
When contacted for this story, I-70 Medical Center's CEO Ron Baker said, "I really can't comment. There is a lot going on here, a lot of comment and rumor, and I'm not at liberty to say."
Baker said Dohrman's letter to the LaMonte city council was also "premature."
Baker added he did not know when information would be forthcoming.
"When there is something to announce, we will announce it," he said. "There are a lot of monkey wrenches that can mess up the machinery in an issue like this."
Dohrman was not available for comment at press time.
Contact Kathy Fairchild at
True, there were many citizens who donated money to establish a hospital in Sweet Springs. But not all money went to building the hospital itself. There were quite a few resources that went into establishing utilities and services north of I-70 where the hospital is established. This makes the property north of I-70 very attractive to businesses that would like to take advantage of traffic and tourists coming through on I-70. These are businesses that would also pay taxes to the community of Sweet Springs as well as the hospital.
But most citizen's did donate money to have a local hospital so they would have medical services within a few minutes of their homes rather than spending thirty minutes driving to the next nearest hospital. Could you imagine a loved one having a heart attack and realizing that the first 10 mins were crucial to your loved ones survival and at the same time realizing that the nearest hospital was over thirty minutes away? The citizen's wanted a local hospital which provided those services within a few minutes of their homes and that has occurred.
I-70 Medical Center is widely known for its care and committment to it's patients and has a proven track record for saving lives. And it looks as if that is going to continue on into the future with much needed services continuing to be brought on. They're already in the planning stages for increasing the I-70 Family Clinic located on the hospital property by building a huge addition and adding much needed space for all the patients coming in throughout the mid-missouri area. They're currently building a Family Clinic in Concordia that is supposed to be opened in the fall, and they have plans to also open a Family Clinic in Alma Missouri. It doesn't sound like there's any plans for the hospital to dry up and fade away. They have added a bus to their community services to help those who are unable to drive, go shopping, to church services, to the Senior Citizens Center and to Dr.'s appointments whether they're in Sweet Springs or in Columbia Missouri. Personally, I think that we got all that we asked for and more when we donated money for a hospital to be established in our community.
People can say what they will but when I made a donation for the hospital to be established in Sweet Springs I got what I asked for. I now have a hospital in my community providing services that I used to have to drive to obtain. The nurses and doctors provide the very best care I've ever had. The employees of the hospital, buy their groceries, their gas, homes, they have their cars repaired in town. If you ask me I got more than I bargained for when I donated money. Not only did I get all this, I was also able to deduct my donation from my income tax statement the year I donated it. Personally the only reason that I would be upset is if they told me that this wonderful hospital was going to be shut down or be moved to some other community. But that isn't going to happen. I was there when they laid the foundation and they didn't put it on wheels, they buried it in good solid earth.
There was a lot of local fundraising money that went into the NON-PROFIT hospital. Where is that money going? Is the for profit hospital going to pay back all the efforts that individuals made on behalf of the NON-PROFIT hospital. Is the city of Sweet Springs going to be paid back all the money it invested in the NON-PROFIT hospital.
Is it a rat I smell or is it a fishy smell. I don't know it is PREMATURE to tell. Remember friends if quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck, it must be a duck! I bet that CEO Baker is busier than a cat trying to cover up this mess.
It would be unfortunate if private profit were made off of taxpayer funding, and the citizens and taxpayers get - what?