Directors of the Unicoi County Memorial Hospital Board decided earlier this month to table an offer from Mountain States Health Alliance to purchase the community hospital. Instead, the board voted to meet Thursday to discuss the MSHA deal more.
Directors also agreed to take additional proposals to buy the financially struggling hospital. An earlier deal with MSHA was expected to be approved at the board’s meeting Oct. 4.
That meeting saw other possible suitors of the health care facility in attendance, including Wellmont Health System President/CEO Denny DeNarvaez.
While Mountain States Health Alliance President/CEO Dennis Vonderfecht did not attend, he did send Shane O’Hare, MSHA corporate director of communications and marketing, to the meeting.
As Press Erwin Bureau Chief Brad Hicks reported, the board received a letter of intent from MSHA in early September that would see the regional health care giant assume UCMH’s more than $6 million in financial obligations. The deal also included the construction of a new acute care facility, a voluntary contribution of $1 million to be split between Erwin and Unicoi County and the issuance of a $1.5 million line of credit.
The hospital board’s decision to table action on the deal did not please MSHA officials. Mountain States Health Alliance President/CEO Dennis Vonderfecht was disappointed, but said his organization is still interested in acquiring the Unicoi County hospital.
“What we’re calling for is the board of directors of Unicoi County Memorial Hospital to get back on track with the process that was originally put in place,” Vonderfecht said. “It was a fair process to both parties involved, which was us and Wellmont, as well.”
Vonderfecht said Oct. 5 he feels MSHA is the best partner for the Unicoi County hospital. He said between MSHA facilities and UCMH, the two entities already serve 96 percent of the health care needs of Unicoi County residents.
The hospital board met in a closed session on the eve of the deadline to submit proposals to purchase the Unicoi County hospital. Directors voted at that Oct. 10 meeting to give board Chairman Glenn Tilson authority to hire an attorney to handle the sale of the hospital.
We want to hear from you. Should Unicoi County Memorial Hospital Board sell the health care facility to Mountain States Health Alliance, or should it continue to evaluate other offers?
Send your comments to Mailbag, P.O. Box 1717, Johnson City, TN 37605-1717, or mailbag@johnsoncitypress.com. Please include your name, telephone number and address for verification purposes. We will print your comments on the Editorial and Commentary pages in the coming weeks.
tennessee_lady01 writes:
October 21, 2012
11:32 AM
I do not believe Mountain States Health Alliance will maintain, much less build a new hospital in Unicoi County. It will be just a matter of time before they dismantle and close Unicoi County Memorial Hospital. Why would it be in their best interest to spend millions of dollars in Unicoi County when there is a multi-million dollar hospital just 15 miles away? On the other hand, Wellmont does have an incentive to have a thriving medical facility in this area; and that is, to compete with MSHA !!!!
Twitterpated1 writes:
October 22, 2012
12:12 PM
I agree with tennessee_lady. MSHA has no incentive to maintain UCMH - at the most, they might leave a free-standing ER. I think Wellmont is a better choice for Unicoi County - my only concern is that ambulances cannot drive past MSHA to take patient's to Wellmont due to insurance/Medicare dictates. They must take patient's to the nearest hospital capable of treating whatever health concern they have. I am not sure how Wellmont can address this problem. But it is a serious one. And if Wellmont is chosen to take over UCMH - their only alternative would be to make sure it is staffed with other specialities and perhaps even build a Cardiac Cath Lab there. I think this would be a major investment on Wellmont's part - are they willing to commit??
justanurse writes:
October 29, 2012
9:04 PM
I have to disagree. In case of a true emergency and your family member needed trauma care would you want them to have to be transported all the way to Kingsport to get care? Talk to any nurse who has worked at both JCMC and Wellmont and find out what the difference is in the level of patient care. Nurses at Wellmont have an average of 7-8 patients per nurse but MSHA is 4-5 per nurse. Who do you think is gonna get better care?
tarheelsjda@gmail.com writes:
November 1, 2012
12:55 PM
Being aware there is an ongoing battle for Unicoi County Hospital, between MSHA and Wellmont. As a former Nurse Manager with 20 years of service to Bristol Regional Medical Center, a part of the Wellmont system. May I express the following concern. I resigned recently due to lack of concern for patients, i.e. staff to patient ratio. I had expressed concern to management might I say to no avail. Upon my resignation I offered again to talk to management or attorneys representing the hospital, no response. Concern should be for patients, while profitability is important patients should come first. I hope the powers that be consider this in their decision. Any response is welcomed e-mail address is
tarheelsjda@gmail.com.
Teresa Adams