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The County Commission approved an amendment to the interlocal agreement between Madison County and its incorporated municipalities to allow a portion of the proceeds form the local option sales tax to go to the Madison County Memorial Hospital to help defray the cost of indigent care provided by the Hospital.
County Attorney Tom Reeves explained the interlocal agreement process step by step as to how it was structured, and how it governed the use of monies collected through the local option sales tax, then explained the process by which the county had been able to refinance a loan for completed road infrastructure work, freeing up the money that was to go to the hospital. Marianne Green asked for clarification and assurance that the money was to go only for indigent care and not for any other purpose, and that the indigent care thus paid for was only for Madison County residents. County Court Clerk Tim Sanders assured all those present that the Clerk’s Office would be responsible for the money and any payments made to the hospital for indigent care, and that the hospital would provide invoices for such payments.
The board also approved allowing the hospital to lease part of the old EMS building for storage desperately needed for hospital records and to use as a staging area for when the hospital begins making the switch-over from the old to the new facility. AHCA requires that the hospital run both the old and new facilities in parallel until the new facility is approved and permission is given to shut down the old facility. During that time, rather than buy duplicates of needed equipment and extra beds, the hospital plans to borrow these items from other regional hospitals – a common practice among hospitals whenever a replacement facility has been built and is awaiting approval – and it needs a staging area both to receive the borrowed items and later to store them until they can be returned once the old facility is closed.
The question of security for the aging EMS building came up, and hospital CEO David Abercrombie agreed that the hospital would take responsibility for securing the building, whether it was by installing deadbolt locks or putting up chain-link fencing.
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