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Location key to hospital move
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK © St. Petersburg Times, published June 6, 2001 BROOKSVILLE -- After months of speculation, county commissioners on Tuesday finally got the specifics of Hernando HealthCare's proposal to move Brooksville Regional Hospital. Company CEO Tom Barb painted the plan as a "no-brainer." It would give the county improved medical facilities, he told commissioners, while also pumping much-needed cash into the county's coffers. "Other communities would die for this deal," Barb said, winning wild applause from the room packed with hospital employees and backers. Yet frowns were evident on the faces of several east-county residents who came to protest any westward move of the hospital. "We're repeatedly treated like a stepchild," said Charlie Thompson of Ridge Manor. "I'm not opposing a new hospital. I know we need one desperately. I'm asking, why do we need to add two to three minutes to get to the hospital, which could mean life or death for a heart attack victim." Commissioners, who had not seen the proposal before the session, acknowledged the dichotomy emerging and said they'd take their time to fully evaluate all the implications of moving the hospital. "Any time you have someone who's willing to build a facility and improve the quality of service, that's a good thing," said Commissioner Betty Whitehouse, former Hernando HealthCare human resources director. "How we deal with issues facing the east side of the county is what we have to address." Chairman Chris Kingsley agreed that location is a critical point for the county, which owns the hospital and leases it to Hernando HealthCare. He also advocated a thorough review. "They tried to make it look like it's costing the county not to act," Kingsley said. "Don't tell us we have to act today. We're going to do this responsibly and rationally." At the start of his presentation, Barb said logic would buttress his arguments in favor of moving the hospital from its current location on Ponce de Leon Boulevard to 95 acres at State Road 50 at Lykes Dublin Road. His company took the county hospitals out of bankruptcy and made them successful, he said. All debts were paid, with interest, he said, and the county won unfettered ownership of the three hospital properties. Hernando HealthCare agreed to a 30-year lease with an annual $300,000 payment to the county, he noted. Over time it donated $13.2-million in building improvements and provided $9.7-million in indigent care. It also has outgrown its location, hospital associate administrator Rob Foreman said. The second- and third-floor patient wings are not connected, he said. Operating rooms are 240 to 345 square feet, compared to more modern rooms of 450 to 600 square feet. One elevator per wing is insufficient, Foreman said, and the patient corridors are too narrow. "If we're agreed, and I think the majority of people I've talked to have agreed we need a new hospital at this point, the next question is where," Barb said. The hospital needs a rectangular or square property of 40 acres or more, he said, with frontage on major thoroughfares and access to residents and doctors. After reviewing several sites, including an expansion of the current one, the hospital's executives and advisory board singled out the one on State Road 50 at Lykes Dublin, Barb said. Hernando HealthCare would not walk away from its agreement with the county, he said. Rather, it wants to extend the contract by 15 years, continue its annual $300,000 rental payments and add another $500,000 or so each year to represent its property taxes. When the company took over the hospitals in 1998, commissioners agreed not to force it to pay property taxes. Hernando HealthCare also offered to pay $50,000 for a study to help find a suitable new tenant for the hospital building it would vacate. "This is a no-brainer," Barb said. "This is what economic development is all about." Ridge Manor resident John Pierson urged commissioners to look at more than economics, though. "I'm a human being, and I live east," he said. "I need a hospital as close to me as possible." Barb said the location is not negotiable, but nearly every other part of the proposal could be changed. - Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Hernando County government, and can be reached at (352) 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com. The hospital proposalHernando HealthCare wants to build a new Brooksville Regional Hospital at a new location. Here's what was proposed Tuesday to the Hernando County Commission, which rents the hospital and certificates of need for the beds to the company. The company would: Build a modern hospital on about 95 acres at State Road 50 and Lykes Dublin Road, and give the building and land to the county. Extend its 30-year lease for another 15 years, and continue its annual rent payment of $300,000 to the county. Pay the county an annual amount equivalent to what its property taxes would be, about $500,000 a year. The company currently pays no taxes. Return the current hospital building and site to the county for other uses. Provide $50,000 for a redevelopment plan of the current hospital site. -- Source: Hernando HealthCare
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