Coffee Board Makes Choice - RegionalCare

I sure hope it is the right choice......newspaper releases for the hospital in Outtumwa they are buying sound good I just hope it all holds out!

E.Z,
Have talked to many who know this guy professionally and personally and say he is one of the good guys. I think he is what is needed to bring it to where it needs to be and give stability.
I too have followed the Iowa hospital and it looks good there as well.

When does the county and city vote? And, how soon will the actual exchange of hands take place if they vote yes?

YAY! I am thrilled to hear about this! This will be great for Lauderdale county.

Does this increase or decrease the chance of more layoffs by the hospital?

I would guess decrease. They are at about bare bones staff now.

Hopefully more news will be forthcoming, but it looks like it would defintely decrease the likelihood of more layoffs. This is the buyer who wants to build a new hospital. He also wants to expand services and I doubt that would mean decreasing staff. The timeline is fast approaching so as soon as the county and city move it will happen, probably within the next month or so.

I hope the Florence city & county leaders have made it clear to whom ever buys ecm that if a new hospital is build, it must be built in Florence not across the river.

quote:

Originally posted by jmmgj5:
I hope the Florence city & county leaders have made it clear to whom ever buys ecm that if a new hospital is build, it must be built in Florence not across the river.

from todays article...
RegionalCare agrees to build a 300-bed replacement hospital in Lauderdale County within 3½ years after the certificate of need is obtained, an investment of
$250 million.

I wonder what will become of Shoals Hospital.

I would guess Shoals would remain open in some capacity. The Rehab Center is good, and the GeriPsych unit is the only one in this area. I think they would possibly increase those services.

That's just my opinion, I don't have any facts or inside info to support my theory.

I wish they would turn Shoals into an inpatient Hospice facility where someone with a terminal illness could go check in and stay for end of life care for as long as needed. I agree we need to keep the geripsych unit and rehab there too.

forum, that is a good idea about the Hospice. ECM has a few Pallative care rooms, but I agree that more would be better.


I just read the full article. Mr. Wilson needs to wake up. Huntsville is not interested in forming a partnership, Keller is not interested in forming a partnership. It would have been the ideal situation, but it's not going to happen.

quote:

Originally posted by jmmgj5:
I hope the Florence city & county leaders have made it clear to whom ever buys ecm that if a new hospital is build, it must be built in Florence not across the river.

And here come the "Elitist". What makes you think that is the solution? Build it to where is a aervice to most of the population, is easy to get to and get out of. Don't come in here with the idea that Florence is the "BEST"
Tain't so McGee!

Who is coming in here with the attitude? The LoI simply stated it would be built in Lauderdale County, since they are the only ones who currently was involved in the negotiations. It was my understanding that an original offer was made for a new hospital on the south side of the river, if Keller had wanted to be involved in the merger venture, however they decided they did not want to go that route, and instead pursued a venture with Huntsville. There was no superiority complex here on the part of the Coffee Board, they were doing what they needed to do to make the hospital survive and salvage the jobs of the employees, while securing healthcare for the community.

Administtation of Coffee has to be in Lauderdale County..this came up when there was a plan to move it to third floor Shoals MOB

I wonder what the time line is on that? Finding a location, getting all the right paper work, starting construction...........
It may be 10 years from now.

I think the 'attitude' was assuming Florence is 'better' than any other city in the quad area.

ECM is located in a crappy place for parking and access. Any new place needs to be out of the main city, away from too much traffic.

quote:

Originally posted by SS97:
I wonder what the time line is on that? Finding a location, getting all the right paper work, starting construction...........
It may be 10 years from now.

I think the 'attitude' was assuming Florence is 'better' than any other city in the quad area.

ECM is located in a crappy place for parking and access. Any new place needs to be out of the main city, away from too much traffic.

And in an area where they are not landlocked if they ever need/want to expand.

I think out on Cox Creek near where Eliza is buried would be nice

Instead of the landfill?

The contract stipulates that a new hospital must be completed within 3 1/2 years of the securement of the CON. The CON is the real question here. Obviously it is to the new owner's advantage to get this ASAP, and supposedly will apply for it ASAP. Of course, they expect that there will be adversity from Huntsville and Keller, therefore, it will take some time to get it, I am sure. Baring no problems with the CON, I think you could see a new hospital within 5 years, but it will depend on the amount of resistance put up by other parties. it really should not be a question. ECM already is licensed for over 300 beds, but it is a government (state) hoop that must be overcome, and it is strictly a politcal tool to be used by those who want to prevent a new hospital from being built.

Just so everyone is clear, the new hospital would replace ECM Hospital. All services currently at ECM would be moved to the new hospital. The new one would not be an additional one. Of course it takes a while to get a CON. I'm sure Keller and Huntsville will oppose it.

It doesn't matter to me if it replaces ECM, I don't care for the place anyway.

Location will be a sticking point though. As canade said, there must be room for future expansion.

quote:

Originally posted by LMF:
I wonder what will become of Shoals Hospital.

According to the terms of the Letter of Agreement, Regional Heatlh has the option to purchase or not purchase Shoals Hospital. If it chooses not to do so, then Shoals Hospital will remain in the hands of Coffee Health Group. If Coffee Health Group decides to disband and become non-existent, then the control of the facility will be rendered back to the local government.

The explanation given to me is that the Shoals Hopsital is included in the package sale. There have been no monetion of what will happen to Shoals Hospital. in the case of any of the buildings, when and if a new hospital is built, the buildings would be returned to Coffee health group authority if the buildings are not used for medical purposes. They could then be sold, given away, torn dorn, or whatever.
The buyer's current plan is to build a new hospital to replace ECM and Shoals. I am sure Shoals however would continue to operate in its current capacity until something happens otherwise.

Online forum starting at 6pm tonight.

www.ecmhospital.com or www.shoalshospital.com or www.chgroup.org



There will be a button (Icon) at the top of each homepage that you will need to click to be carried to the webcast.



The Florence / Lauderdale County Library is making computers available in their conference room for people who live in the county and do not have access to high speed internet service. Also, the program will be archived on our website and can be viewed for several weeks following tonight’s event.



The program will begin at 6 pm and conclude at 7 pm.

The letter of intent was signed by RegionalCare Hospital Partners yesterday. This is probably the best thing that could happen to the Shoals area in my opinion. To me this means, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and other surrounding towns and cities will have more opportunities for growth. This will BOOST the economy!!

Non-profit hospitals are tax exempt organizations. This means they don’t pay taxes on both their income and property. Second, they issue tax-exempt bonds so lenders do not pay income taxes on interest received. Third, donors deduct charitable contributions from their income tax bases.

For-profit providers look at health care as a business, with a financial bottom line producing profits that can be distributed to shareholders. Supporters of for-profit health care say that increased competition can produce a more efficient, effective, less expensive health care system. A for-profit pays taxes which benefits the Shoals area.
In today’s article it stated that for-profit only provides healthcare to make money and non-profit provides healthcare because people need it. ALL businesses looks at money or they want be in business for long.
According to the terms and conditions in the paper the bond debt will be paid. RegionalCare agreed to build a replacement hospital in Lauderdale County within 3 ½ years after CON obtained. THIS IS TO REPLACE ECM hospital not Shoals Hospital. It does not say anything about closing SHOALS Hospital!

Shoals hospital is the newest building of all of the hospitals in this area. They have the ONLY inpatient rehabilitation unit that serves this community and the ONLY Geropsych unit.

WHY would you want to get rid of services that you have at SHOALS Hospital? You cannot just put those acute beds into another County it does not work that way…..

This company is looking at “a comprehensive physician recruitment program.” That means GROW……….. Not CLOSE…….

I think this company is going to bring physicians to this area that this community needs; so you DO NOT have to go to Huntsville, Birmingham or Memphis for the service.

My opinion is the community and surrounding areas are going to see GROWTH, NEW SERVICES and NEW Specialized PHYSICIANS and create more jobs for the locate people!!!

I agree healing-the-shoals. A lot of people seem to think that CHG gets tax money from the City and County. That is not true - they do not receive tax dollars from City of Florence or Lauderdale County.

On another note, currently CHG is tax-exempt. That means they do not pay sales taxe on any purchase of goods/equipment. If RegionalCare is allowed to purchase CHG, I think they will be required to pay sales tax. More tax income for the Shoals area!!!

quote:

Originally posted by canade:
Online forum starting at 6pm tonight.

www.ecmhospital.com or www.shoalshospital.com or www.chgroup.org



There will be a button (Icon) at the top of each homepage that you will need to click to be carried to the webcast.



The Florence / Lauderdale County Library is making computers available in their conference room for people who live in the county and do not have access to high speed internet service. Also, the program will be archived on our website and can be viewed for several weeks following tonight’s event.



The program will begin at 6 pm and conclude at 7 pm.

According to TD, only 190 people watched the forum online, and only 1 person cared enough to go to the library to watch.

Sad.