Six Proposals Submitted To Manage Hospital

August 5, 2004

HUNTSVILLE - The Scott County Finance Committee has received six proposals from health care firms interested in taking over the operation of the Scott County Hospital when the county's contract with Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS) expires in November.

The six proposals were received by the County Commission's Finance Committee in a special called meeting at the Scott County Office Building in Huntsville Friday afternoon. And although the proposals were opened and copies presented to key members of the Hospital Transition Committee, no details were provided as to their content.

Firms submitting proposals to manage the county-owned facility were identified as Health Solutions, LLC and Baptist Health System of East Tennessee (a joint proposal); St. MaryÕs Health System, Lifepoint Hospital, Inc., Covenant Health, Adventist Health Systems and Attentus Healthcare.

Immediately after the brief meeting in which the proposals were opened and identified (in the presence of representatives of each of the health care institutions submitting proposals), County Mayor Dwight Murphy announced that they would be taken under study over the weekend by the transition team. That group was to have met in a day-long session at the hospital on Monday to review the proposals, after which, Murphy said, a press release would be issued to sum up what each group is proposing.

Murphy explained that the transition team would follow up on the written proposals with visits to facilities managed by those submitting proposals before making a recommendation to county commission. The commission, Murphy stated, would make the final decision on which firm would manage the hospital and the terms of the agreement, but not before allowing input from the general public. "A public hearing will also be held before any decision is made," Murphy said following Friday afternoonÕs meeting.

Representatives of 13 different health care institutions have toured the Scott County Hospital over the past several weeks leading up to FridayÕs deadline for submitting proposals, Murphy said. As the proposals were received over a three-day period (July 28-30), County Attorney John Beaty took charge of them and placed them in a bank vault in Huntsville where they remained unopened until Friday's 2 p.m. ceremony at the Scott County Office Building.

Present at Friday afternoon's proposal opening were Finance Committee members Commissioner Hertis Phillips (serving as acting chairman), Commissioner Ernest Phillips, Director of Schools Mike Davis, and School Board Member Rodney West. The committee chairman, Mike Slaven, who had been out of town, arrived late in the meeting, and Carol Lowe sat in for Scott County Finance Director Keith Jeffers, who was also out of town.

Others present for the opening of the proposals were Commissioners Odeva Byrd, Leonard Bertram, Rothel "Tub" Cross and Harold Chambers. Members of the 20-member, commission-appointed transition team present were Oneida Mayor Jack E. Lay, hospital employees Gary Cross, Wayne King, Rhonda Keeton and Dr. Robert Lloyd, along with Norman Acres, chairman of the hospitalÕs advisory board. Also present was Scott County Hospital CEO Butch Naylor.

The only action of the committee was to approve the opening of the proposals and to refer them to the transition team for an in-depth study.

news@ihoneida.com

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