After months of talks, a breakthrough has
been made that may soon pave the way for a lease to be signed between Pioneer
Health and the County. Since the Commission last met, Pioneer decided not to seek
an agreement to acquire the current Hospital Provider Number from Health
Management Associates (HMA), and to apply for its own provider status. By
seeking its own provider number, Pioneer would not be liable for any actions
taken during the tenure of Mercy Health, or HMA, who assumed Mercy’s assets on
October 1, 2011.
County Mayor Jeff Tibbals
described the process of obtaining the provider number as a lengthy one. “It
can take six months, or even more, to get that number,” Tibbals
said. During the application process, should Pioneer ink a lease agreement with
the County and assume operations of the facility, there would likely be a three
to four month period where Pioneer would not receive reimbursement from
Medicare and Medicaid. Pioneer would then have to find
private funding to cover the cost of operations for that time. “They would have
to find ‘Gap Financing,’ which they have agreed to do. The County would not be
responsible for this, and would not cost us a dime,” Tibbals
asserted.
The decision to pursue this course of action
paves the way for an agreement on lease terms between Pioneer and the County,
which has been delayed for six weeks. “The lease document has not substantially
changed since the beginning of the process, so we should have something ready
by next week,” noted Committee Chairman Paul Strunk.
While the County may choose to enter into a lease agreement with Pioneer at its
regular meeting on December 19, however, time would be of the essence. The
Letter of Intent between Pioneer and the County is set to expire January 1,
2012. “Any lease would have to be approved by the State Attorney General,
something that could take up to 45 days,” noted Strunk.
To that end, the Community Development Committee voted to recommend extending
the Letter of Intent by 30 days, or until approval from the Attorney General,
whichever came first.