History Corner

In the fall of 1976 Dr. Ed Quick came to practice at Council. He only stayed until the spring of 1980. That year (1980) Dr. Randall Ochs arrived to “practice in general medicine and surgery at the Council community hospital.”

In August of 1984 the Adams County Leader reported that plans were being proposed to form an Adams County Hospital District, which would place part of the economic burden of the hospital on tax payers within that yet-to-be-determined district. The Leader quoted the hospital board as saying: “Small rural hospitals are restricted, through regulation, in their ability to function in a reduced capacity. Because Adams County, owner of the Community Hospital, is unable to provide financial support for the continued operation of the facility, we feel the most viable action is to form a hospital district and therefore have the capacity to level taxes in support of the hospital.”

Just exactly what changed around this time (or maybe a bit earlier) is hard to pin down. The hospital had been having economic issues and trouble meeting legal requirements for a while, but closing the hospital was not really mentioned until near the end of 1984 when the Record newspaper said: “The Hospital Board had requested the hospital administration to inform them when they reached the bottom-line point. At that point, the hospital would be closed down. The board announced that point has just been reached. They are stretching so they can stay open to December 18, the day of the election. The Taxing District would buy some time. If the taxing district is not voted in on December 18, the hospital will close on December 19.”

A big issue was the challenge of getting and keeping doctors. The idea of only having 12 hours of doctor coverage each day at the hospital, instead of 24-hour coverage, was not legal if the status as a licensed hospital was to be retained. It could function as a “clinic” with emergency coverage.

In an election in December 1984, 50% of registered voters turned out and approved the formation of a hospital district. The commissioners appointed a new hospital board

The Record , January 9, 1985: “The members of the new hospital board met with County Attorney Chuck Kroll and the County Commissioners to set forth the terms of the transfer of hospital assets from the County to the tax district.”

The Record , January 30, 1985: “It is now official, the Joint Powers Agreement transferring the hospital, its assets and liabilities from the County to the newly formed hospital district, was signed at the January 28 meeting of the Adams County Commissioners.”

The Record, March 6, 1985: “The legislation to change the few words in the Idaho State Code to allow our newly formed hospital district to borrow against tax anticipation notes now came out of the House Committee and passed the house. However, the Bill – House Bill 221 – had not been introduced into the Senate. The bill has to pass the Government Tax & Revenue Committee before it can be introduced into the floor of the Senate. If this bill is not voted on or does not pass, we will in all probability lose our hospital.” Apparently the bill passed.

A month later the board closed the hospital temporarily until they could recruit another physician or two. A letter received from the State Licensing Board listed three options:

1– The hospital district could voluntarily surrender its licenses and reapply for licensing when it opened. However, the hospital would then have to be brought up to existing regulations.

2 – The hospital’s license could be suspended for 60 days by the state without losing any grandfather rights.

3 – The hospital could apply for shelter home license.

The state recommended options two and three.

In the summer of 1985 Linda Alexander became the new hospital administrator, and Dr. Paul Wehman, Doctor of Osteopathy, was recruited.

At some point in 1988 the hospital was converted to a 20 bed nursing home / 4-bed acute care hospital. Many of the acute care beds were converted to skilled nursing beds for a growing elderly population in need of a nursing home facility. Area residents donated over $200,000 to keep the hospital running.

Continued next week.