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CCMSD to formally split from foundation

Hospital board feels foundation’s goals no longer align with its own

Concerned that the goals of Crook County Medical Services District (CCMSD) no longer match those of the foundation with which it was once aligned, the Board of Trustees has decided to pursue its own fundraising arm.

The move follows the recent announcement that the Crook County Medical Foundation (CCMF) has leased space in its new Red Bluffs clinic building in Hulett to Campbell County Health, rather than to the county’s own hospital district.

Months of negotiations between the two entities failed to bear fruit. The foundation was not willing to agree that that building would ultimately be donated to the district, preferring to make that decision once it had been fully paid off.

Chairman Mark Erickson shared his opinion at last week’s board meeting that, “We, as a district…funded by taxpayers in this county, need to set up our own foundation.”

This new entity, he said, would have the sole purpose of fulfilling district needs and would pertain specifically to supporting the hospital and clinics that are run and staffed by CCMSD.

Erickson reiterated his concern that CCMF described itself in a letter to the editor as the foundation “of Hulett,” which implies it only serves one of the county’s communities. Trustee Sandy Neiman corrected this, however, saying that the wording was, “totally their mistake” and is not true.

Nevertheless, said Erickson, there is clearly a split between the foundation and the district. The former, he said, does not act solely in support of the district.

This comment reflected a statement made by Erickson at September’s meeting of the board, which addressed the question of whether or not a person donating to the foundation can be sure their money will be going towards CCMSD. He pointed out that the foundation’s mandate is to support the medical health needs of the county, rather than to support the district.

“I think it is imperative that the people of the community understand that the way the foundation is now set up, if they want to support CCMSD, donations would need to go directly to our hospital,” he said.

If CCMSD formed its own foundation or fundraising arm, he said, it would be specifically geared towards the district’s needs.

“I would like to see what we need to do from a legal standpoint of setting that up,” he said, asking board attorney Kara Ellsbury to investigate further.

Many hospitals around the nation have their own foundation arm, he said, as evidenced by the fact that you can walk into many hospital lobbies and see boards that honor their various donors.

CEO Micki Lyons noted an additional advantage of CCMSD having its own fundraising arm: a 501c3, she said, has the ability to apply for a number of grants that the district itself does not qualify for. This could be beneficial to the district’s facilities, she said.

With no dissent from the rest of the board, the conversation was brought to an end with Ellsbury set to look into the matter.

During the same meeting, Neiman expressed her desire to hold an open house and otherwise advertise that CCMSD’s Hulett clinic remains open, as she has received questions about it since the announcement that Campbell County Health would be leasing the new building.

Lyons agreed that this would be of benefit and said that she and staff members would see what they can come up with to promote the clinic.

 
 
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