OMHC board asking increase in levy amount

Several recent community meetings in Odessa have addressed the financial situation at the Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center. The hospital’s board of commissioners voted to increase the requested levy amount for maintenance and operations by one dollar per thousand dollars worth of real estate value. Levies for the hospital and for the school district will run in February. If passed, the levy amounts will be collected beginning the following year.

The board of commissioners, nervous about requesting too much of an increase, opted for the one dollar increase in an effort to stem the financial losses suffered by the hospital district. The amount requested will only cut those losses in half, not eliminate them. Commissioners felt that asking for part of the increase now might prove more successful than trying to put through the entire increase all at once. Having to run the levy a second time, should it be voted down the first time, would be expensive.

Smallest hospital in WA

Did you know that the Odessa hospital is the smallest hospital in the entire state? Did you also know that 43 rural hospitals in the U.S. have closed their doors since 2010? And half of those small hospitals remain closed, while the other half offer limited services such as rehabilitation and nursing facilities or outpatient clinics.

In Washington state, three major forces make it difficult for small rural hospitals to survive: 1. Increased costs for skilled personnel and for information technology (IT) services. 2. Provider shortages (affecting all states, not just Washington). 3. System design (payments tied to volumes and regulatory requirements that do not necessarily work for small rural areas).

Because rural providers treat patients who are by and large poorer, older and sicker than those in urban areas, the cost of treatment is relatively higher than in an urban hospital. Government programs like Medicaid and Medicare typically pay out less than the cost of the care provided, so rural hospitals, despite providing great community support with the services they offer, often provide those services at a financial loss to the organization.

Hospitals are among a community’s largest employers, and the closure of a hospital can devastate the local economy. The drawbacks for those living in areas with no hospital are obvious. There will be longer wait times for first responders in the event of an emergency, longer travel times to get care or to visit loved ones and the added expense associated therewith. The elderly, the disabled, those in the lower socio-economic strata and children will suffer disproportionately.

Nearly one quarter of the population of the U.S. lives in rural areas, but only about 10 percent of physicians practice in rural America. According to the National Rural Health Association, rural residents on average make $7,417 less annually than urban dwellers. Nearly 24 percent of rural children live in poverty.

Sheldon is on several committees and is involved in lobbying efforts to convince state lawmakers that rural, critical-access hospitals are an asset worth keeping. As she and other administrators work with politicians to find financial relief, they must also be realists. If the government is not going to see the need in rural America and try to help keep our agricultural communities vital, then the community itself will have to decide whether the additional tax burden they will have to bear will be worth it to retain the local hospital and all those jobs it provides.

Newcomers to town invariably mention three major reasons for relocating to Odessa: the small-town atmosphere (getting away from traffic, overcrowding, etc.), the hospital with its 24-hour emergency room, and the school (especially if they have children) with its high academic standards and dedicated staff.