|
Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center advised the Calhoun Commission they are not currently interested in purchasing the hospital building, annex and property from the county.
MHHCC CEO Barb Lay said "We're better off leasing it," with 89 years remaining on a 99-year-lease, which was agreed upon a number of years ago.
The property was leased for $1 a year to help the hospital regain its footing, after the financial collapse and closing of Calhoun General Hospital.
Hospital administrator Steve White said "There could be some benefits to buying the building, but it could cause us some serious problems at the same time," including how the hospital receives reimbursement for services.
The commission was interested in looking at selling the property, essentially to generate cash which could be used for a number of matching grants to make improvements.
"It's been a long time since we've had extra money to be used for matching," said commission president Larry McCallister.
The proposal for MHHCC came after they made a request to the county commission to assist MHHCC to obtain about $900,000 in loans and refinancing to make improvements to the buildings.
"The hospital building and infrastructure needs a lot of work, and many things have not been replaced since the building was built," said Lay.
MHHCC cannot issue tax exempt bonds, and are requesting the commission to be the "conduit" to obtain a loan and re-finance their current debt.
The commission will assist MHHCC to obtain the funding. "There is no obligation to the county financially in case of default and no obligation to the taxpayers," said McCallister.
MHHCC employs 208 people in the community with an annual payroll exceeding $7 million dollars. As one of the significant employers in the county, workers do their banking, shopping and pay property taxes locally.
CEO Barb Lay said MHHCC has invested $670,000 in hospital improvements since they leased the property from the county in 1996, besides investing $146,500 in the annex complex.
MHHCC has re-paid debt in the amount of $250,000 since 1996.
Lay said "We want to make sure we maintain services to the community. That is always a primary concern."
A re-write of the lease is being planned to remove the county from any future obligation for building improvements.
| 
