Hospital asks for 3.5 mills in tax dollars
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Officials from Newman Regional Health today asked for 3.5 mills in tax dollars during the Lyon County Commission study session.
Newman Chief Executive Officer Bob Driewer asked commissioners for the 3.5 mills on behalf of the hospital. The hospital is allowed under statute to request the tax dollars. Driewer said the funds are needed to help pay for the replacement of a 9-year-old MRI machine, which will cost an estimated $1,500,000. The funds also will be used to replace an 11-year-old cath lab.
Driewer said the leading causes of death is heart disease and cancer. The mammography/MRI and cath lab would help diagnose and treat the diseases.
The new equipment will allow “Newman Regional Health to continue MRI services and expand diagnostic breast cancer capabilities and allow the hospital to reestablish a diagnostic and interventional cardiology service,” according to documentation provided by Newman.
Driewer said the request is a one-time request. Steve Atherton, the hospital’s attorney, said as long as the request is under six mills it isn’t subject to election. Driewer said the last time the county has provided mill levy funding was in the 1920s.
“It was a difficult decision for the board,” Driewer said. “This is not taken lightly. Under the circumstances, this is an opportunity for the hospital to provide and continue to provide these services.”
For more on today's commission meeting, please see Thursday's Gazette.
chalkrocks (anonymous) says...
Can you say "lead balloon"?
July 13, 2011 at 10:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
railroadhorn (anonymous) says...
So how much is 3.5 mills for the owner of a $75000 house on top of the city's need for 3 mills just to cover debt service, as stated in Monday's public hearing (not sure this will happen but it's probably coming on top of whatever else the city, county, school district and god knows who else thinks they can just reach into my pocket and take.
By the way, I'm going for my diagnostic tests to Topeka this afternoon. I'd almost rather spend the money there than try to shore up this aging institution that Newman's has become.
July 13, 2011 at 11:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
This is one instance where I feel we should outsource these tasks to larger hospitals, the end does not justify the means.
July 13, 2011 at 11:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
solong (anonymous) says...
Newman's is one of the reasons Emporia is going down, don't throw good money after bad.
July 13, 2011 at 11:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chalkrocks (anonymous) says...
Timing is poor but if it really has been 91 years since a mill levy was given to the hospital maybe it is time to consider it. At least they don't have their hand out every year.
Also, NRH has improved so much over the last several years. People really need to give them another chance. Every hospital has its issues but every time I have been there or my wife or child has been there the service has been great! I think the new CEO is changing the culture there and things are on the upswing.
July 13, 2011 at 11:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
chalk, you are a lead balloon.
nrh is a good hospital, and has some better than average dr's. yes the timing is poor, but if it keeps from shipping out patients, it's a good thing. i would be for that mill levee. and it is a 1 time deal.
oh and chalk, i am doing fine thanks to the dr's at nrh. no end of life counseling this time.
July 13, 2011 at 1:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Glitterbird (anonymous) says...
I had several MRI's last year, I thought the machine was brand new.
So my question is - what does a 1.5 million dollar new machine do, that a 9 year old machine does not do?
July 13, 2011 at 1:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
glitter, after many mri's, at st francis in wichita and here. my best guess is the resolution in the pic's. things have changed a lot in 9 yrs
July 13, 2011 at 2:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
I have one question, If NRH and its administrative staff have been able to make the Hospital a viable and evidently a self sustaining and money making entity from the 1920' s up until the last few years, exactly who is to blame for the downturn, money woes or mismanagement that has caused NRH' s Administration/Administrator to ask for help at possibly the worst time in Emporias economic history !
If the County approves of a 3.4 mil tax levy increase to give to NRH and the City of Emporia adds a possible 3.478 mill tax levy to pay for what others want and then who knows what the school board/district is going to ask for in order to pay for the multimillion dollar addition to EMS, I can almost predict that the " bow " or more of this sinking ship the " S.S. EMPORIA/TITANIC " will be more than under water and people will be abondoning this sinking ship as fast and as far as what little money they will have left will allow them to go. And those of us who can' t afford to abondon this sinking ship Emporia, will just have to be content to go down with the ship.
A 3.5 mil tax on a $75,000 house/property will amount to $262.50 tax increase.
1 mil + $1.00 per $ 1000 dollar of assesed property value . Therefore if your home/property has an assesed value of $75,000 that would mean that you would multiply $3.50 X 75 = $262.50 more in taxes, over what you have been paying .
So if the County raises the mill levy by 3.5 mils and the City raises the mil levy by at least 3.0 mils. That would mean that your home/property tax mil would amount to a total increase of 6.5 mils or $6.50 per $ 1000 assesed value of your home/property or on a home that has an assessed value of $75,000 the total tax increase would amount to $487.50 per year. On a home or property with an assessed value of $10,000 the increase would be $ 65.00 per year .
The bigger question is, how many of the approx. 14,000 employed Emporia citizens can afford a possible 6.5 or higher mil levy increase at the present time?
July 13, 2011 at 2:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chalkrocks (anonymous) says...
meth--
Your numbers are a little off. I doubt there is a home with an "assessed value" of $75k. I found a home that was worth $370k appraisal wise but the assessed value is only $42k. So, you take the appraisal on your home and take that times 11.5%, multiply it times the mill levy, divide by 1000 and you have your taxes for the year.
Long story short, you are right in the calculation, but wrong in how they assess the value. A person in a $75,000 home would only have an assessed value of $8625.00 and a 6 mill increase would increase their taxes by $52.
July 13, 2011 at 3:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sail (anonymous) says...
Health care is important to the image and quality of life of a community.Mayby a community fund drive for these items would be something the chamber could do.
July 13, 2011 at 3:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
More money and yet alot folks still go out of town for treatment
July 13, 2011 at 4:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
It looks like they're going to have to mount a fund raiser. I'd be happy to contribute because sail is right, a good hospital is important for sustaining quality of life in a community. We can't all go out of town for medical care, man, c'mon.
Where I'm from in Hawaii, the major hospitals all have tremendously active auxiliary organizations that do a lot of fund raising and they raise tons of money. They need a more active aux here aside from what the gray ladies do.
I have always received good care at Newman's and there is a very good complement of doctors there. I do believe this new person in charge is trying hard to achieve more success in all their departments.
BTW, was I the only one who saw the two new red/white/blue banners on the light poles outside the main entrance on 12th. I liked them and I think they probably did that for the "most patriotic city" competition. I'd never seen Newman's do such a thing before.
July 13, 2011 at 4:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
railroadhorn (anonymous) says...
I don't always go out-of-town. I had minor surgery at Newman last month, lab work, x-rays and a radiology exam. But as far as imaging goes, you can't beat Stormont-Vail in Topeka. They are the first in Kansas to get a Somatom Sensation 64 slice CT scanner and a new Magnetom Avanto 1.5T MRI both from Siemens. Google those if you don't know what they are. My health is important to me and my family and sometimes I got to go with the best that's closest. I have a young son and these exams are done very quickly. Maybe Newman is going to be something like this. Fine. It won't change a lot of cardiology care in my family. We go to St. Lukes in KC for that because there is no cardiologist in Emporia and I don't count the guy who comes to Newman from Topeka once a week.
July 13, 2011 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
I don't understand why they only asked for 3.5 mils? Let's give them 5.95 mils.
July 14, 2011 at 6:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/roz...
July 14, 2011 at 8:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Wow, I don' t know what to say !
Except, sure, why not, lets just put an end to this suffering animal, Emporia and everyone in it and get it over with.
I am as sick, tired and angry of fighting the same old way of doing things as anyone else.
Sure lets do it and get it over with. It looks as if the boobs in D.C. are taking the whole country/nation closer to that eventual end anyway. So we all might as well do our part to accomplish the goal the boobs in D.C. have and are bound to succeed in doing just that, sooner or later.
Can anyone say, Shades of October 28, 1929 - Black Monday !
Does anyone know where to get a Chinese language dictionary !
July 14, 2011 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Yeah, and China just warned the U.S. that we'd better get our budget act together.
What happens if China decides to call in its markers and asks for one whole state? Kansas for example? Rhode Island is too small and Vermont is too cold.
Ah yes, we take Kansas. Raise beaucoup beef for soup. Feed many Chinee people. Kansas people, no likee. Make them move Oklahoma.
July 14, 2011 at 10:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
EmporiaRocks (anonymous) says...
The RDA would protect us from that, create...
July 14, 2011 at 11:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Yeah, sure. LOL They'd be on that forced march to OK too, only they will have velvet slippers.
July 14, 2011 at 2 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
What a coup for the RDA !
instead of one business, they could claim they brought in a entire country.
July 14, 2011 at 2:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Take time to think about the following,
7/13/2011 3:32 PM ET.
|By Robert Powell, MarketWatch
.
US default: Doomsday for investorsIf lawmakers fail to raise the federal debt limit, no asset class will be safe, and panic will sweep the financial markets. Interest rates will spike and the economy will fall back into a recession.
It's no joke. The sky over the investment world and everything under it -- including bonds, stocks, money markets, commodities, you name it -- will fall unless lawmakers raise the $14.3 trillion federal debt ceiling by Aug. 2.
It would be nothing less than catastrophic, and worse than the financial meltdown of the late 2000s, should Uncle Sam fail to raise the legal limit on government borrowing and instead default on U.S. debt, according to Greg McBride, a CFA charterholder and senior analyst for Bankrate.com. "There will be no safe haven," McBride said.
http://money.msn.com/mutual-fund/us-d...
July 14, 2011 at 2:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
meth,
I hope it happens. It is the ONLY thing that will wake people up.
BEANS, BULLETS AND BARBWIRE, BABY!
July 14, 2011 at 3:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
WOW, slipped out my my new progressive way of thinking there. My bad.
July 14, 2011 at 3:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
beans!
July 14, 2011 at 3:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Steve,
I agree, it would be a very rude awakening for some people, but would it wake up the right people, though.
As for me, I don' t really have anything to lose and I have been awake for quite some time now.
So, yea, bring it on, let it happen. I can already speak a smattering of Spanish, German, Italian and Vietnamese and I can probably learn some Chinese.
July 14, 2011 at 4:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
solong (anonymous) says...
Scarlett01_98, FYI, way to many people with negative experiences at NRH ship themselves out and do not even consider going their, that's why they need the money!
July 14, 2011 at 4:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
beans is right, scarlett.
Get this scenario: If my VA pension check does not get sent to my bank on the first, my mortgagor will be looking for its mortgage payment on the same day. Will have to keep a keen eye and make some quick transfers. But not everyone can do that. I will say a prayer of thanks.
July 14, 2011 at 5:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
here's hoping create.
solong, if not for nrh i would be dead right now, so i will stand behind them
July 14, 2011 at 6:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
thats just my opnion of course
July 14, 2011 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
trashman (anonymous) says...
Don't know what good a cath lab would do in Emporia, without having a Cardio team here, it doesn't do a lot of good to have all that expensive equipment just sitting around gathering dust. It didn't draw a team here before and I doubt that it will in this economy.
July 14, 2011 at 7:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
good question trashman, if no cardiologist, then why a cath lab?
July 14, 2011 at 7:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
trashman (anonymous) says...
You can have a cardiologist. but without a team to standby, there's too much risk just doing cath scans. if something goes wrong there needs to be backup or so I was told years ago when I had a cath scan done here and they ended up putting in stents up in Topeka, and that's when the original equipment had first been installed- That's why since then my cardiologist did a followup cath exam at Stormont-Vail.
July 14, 2011 at 7:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
busybody (anonymous) says...
I think updating the MRI is a good thing - it is a safe bet ours is too old with technology moving as fast as it is. Updating and redoing a cath lab is just flat asinine. It didn't work the first time and Emporia even had a cardiologist living here, Dr. Sheriff. There was no cooperation by the anesthesia group, referring physicians, or patients because there wasn't any way to do further intervention if the cath procedure indicated some was needed. At least Dr. Bosiljevac used it for some vascular studies but now even he is gone. NRH needs to concentrate on what is needed - not wishful thinking that they need to run with the big dogs in Topeka and Wichita. We need a sports orthopedic surgeon in town - we need a full time urologist and an ear, nose and throat doc. Concentrate on getting those people here and marketing their services so they will be used. When is Emporia in general going to figure out we are not a BIG town anymore - we are a smaller community who really isn't doing very well. Ratchet down the pie in the sky dreams and concentrate on what we can do well right now.
July 15, 2011 at 11:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )