10/09/1989 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Karen J. Kupel, 85488 Appletree Court, said she is a consumer who has investigated hospital operations elsewhere and found that Sacred Heart General ~Hospital serves the community well. She recommended approval of the proposal before the council. . Tom Heusel, 3318 Olive Street, said he has been employed by Sacred Heart . General Hospital for the pas~ eight years and considers the care available there to be of the highest qua1ity. He suggested adding a proviso to approval of the hospital authority that would require Sacred Heart to drop finance charges on the unpaid balance of medical bills to reduce the burden on impoverished health care consumers. ~ Sister Barbara Haase, 574 East 14th Avenue, reviewed the process involved in developing the proposal for the creation of a hospital authority. She noted that the bonds to be issued by the hospital facility authority could be used only for those capital projects which meet IRS tax-exempt criteria. Qualifying projects could include facilities for the delivery of health care, equipment used in patient care, and parking structures directly intended for patient use. Medical office buildings would not meet the criteria. Sister Barbara said the potential savings represented by the hospital authority may help Sacred Heart reduce the rate of future increases and may enable the hospital to continue providing needed services that are not self-supporting (e.g., the prenatal clinic, the neo-natal intensive care unit, rehabilitation, and treatment for adolescent substance abuse). Sister Barbara said that the hospital is prepared to secure bond insurance to e avoid any possibility of the hospital authority having an adverse effect on the City's bond rating. She added that Sacred Heart intends to comply with Oregon law that prohibits the use of bond proceeds for general operating expenses or to offset charity or indigent care and emphasized that all contemplated uses of those funds meet the criteria set forth in ORS 441.525. There being no further requests to speak, Councilor Schue closed the public hearing. Answering Ms. Ehrman's questions, Bill Gary, City Attorney's Office, said that by statute, the board of the hospital authority is prohibited from operating a hospital faCility. Mr. Gleason said that the authority could establish standards for its review of applications and could expect that the corporation would meet those standards. Mr. Bennett asked whether changing the scope and no longer limiting eligible facilities to acute care, in-patient facilities would allow any sort of out-patient care facility to qualify. Keith Martin responded that an applicant must provide the type of care that meets the statutory definition of in-patient or out-patient care. A distinction is made between domiciliary care and a facility that provides some medical assistance. Mr. Green asked about the authority's effect on competitive health care providers. Mr. Martin replied that any provider of the types of care identified in the definitions could apply. He pointed out that the ordinance e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 9, 1989 Page 5