Last Friday, August 28, the St. Clair County Commission met to decide the fate of the new St. Vincent Hospital. The outcome of the hospital vote had come into question after debate grew heated between members of the county commission.

A crowd of over one hundred filled the county commission boardroom as Commission Chairman Stan Batemon called the meeting to order.

Chief among the many attendees at the hearing was a large contingency of military veterans who had turned out in favor of the hospital.

“We are here to hold the county commission responsible for their actions,” said retired Air Force veteran Ben Hestley. “The veterans want this hospital and they want the VA nursing home that will be built adjacent to it.”

Many people said that they turned out for the meeting after hearing that County Commissioner Paul Manning might vote against the approval of the new facility. Hundreds of emails and blog postings circulated in the days before the hearing, most encouraging citizens to come to Friday’s meeting in support of the hospital deal. After a brief statement announcing that the purpose of the meeting was to approve or disapprove a letter of intent between the commission and St. Vincent, Chairman Batemon then turned the floor over to Commissioner Manning.

In an impassioned statement, Commissioner Manning expressed his desire to not be an obstructionist but to represent all the citizens of St. Clair County in a fair and equitable negotiation for the building of the hospital.

After thanking the veterans on hand, Manning said, “My hat is off to all of you and know that I would never do anything to disturb the lives of any veteran of this county or nation.”

Manning expressed appreciation for the current employees of St. Vincent’s hospital saying that he hoped the employees would have better working conditions at a new hospital.

Lastly, Manning made the case to the citizens that his full intentions were to represent all the taxpayers of St. Clair County. “I have worked hard on these negotiations. I have stayed up long nights to come up with a better plan for you,” Manning said. “There are those who will mislead you but my efforts—along with others on the commission—have led to an eight- or nine-million dollar savings for the people of this county.”

Manning then added, “I will vote yes for the hospital.” Applause filled the room at these words. Chairman Batemon called for a vote and the agreement was passed unanimously.

After the vote, Batemon opened the floor to Judy Merritt, president of Jefferson State Community College. “I am very pleased with the commissions decision today, this is a great day for all of St. Clair County.”

Merritt then expressed Jefferson State’s firm commitment to the county and her desire to see a nursing school built on Jefferson State’s Pell City campus.

John O’Neal CEO of St. Vincent’s Health Services addressed the audience saying, “We are going to build you a new hospital.”

He further said, “We are excited that the County Commission has approved the agreement allowing the new hospital project to move forward. The Health Care Authority, the Pell City Mayor and City Council, the County Commissioners, the Economic Development Board, and many from our system and the community have worked tirelessly on this project. The impact on our community will be tremendous. St. Vincent’s Health System is glad to be a part of this collaboration and pledges to continue providing quality care close to home for the residents of St. Clair County.”

As the veterans filed out of the meeting room, a bystander asked Ben Hestley what he was going to do. Hestley replied, “I’m going home to get my shovel.”

His statement seemed to sum-up the good feelings that surrounded the aftermath of the County Commission meeting.



Hospital Funding

The funding for a new hospital has been in the process for nearly ten years.

“This has been a long deliberate process that has gone through several parties,” Commission Chairman Batemon commented after the letter of intent was finalized last week.

When preliminary work to get a new hospital started ten years ago, the county’s healthcare authority was trying to work out something through Tenent Health, which was operating Brookwood Medical Center and Medical Center East.

At that time and since, discussions about the old building preventing a modern-day healthcare system were plentiful and when St. Vincent’s purchased the hospital from Medical Center East. It took the reigns as the county’s indigent healthcare provider.

In the last few years, things moved forward. So much so that letters of intent began being worded this spring.

The final wording of the letter of intent sent to media outlets outlines how the county will contribute $4 million in an interest only loan to purchase the old hospital and other Health Care Authority land. The county will recoup that money upon the sale of the land for future commercial development site.

In addition to the $4 million, the county will also give the Health Care Authority $1.75 million too for the new hospital to be able to accommodate a cancer unit, dialysis center or any other needed facility expansion. That money was already included in a bond issue put forth while budgeting for the Ashville Courthouse renovation last year.

The county, Pell City, the Healthcare Authority and St. Vincent’s will be entering into a $10.8 million, 20-year bond to complete construction of the new hospital. That bond issue will be paid out of a 20-year lease contract with St. Vincent’s Hospital to manage and operate the new hospital and related services.

St. Vincent’s also will be putting $1.6 million from their own funds towards the hospital.

One contention during the negotiations was the wording of the letter of intent that stated that St. Vincent’s would pay on a 29-year lease. It was believed by many concerned county residents that the last nine years would be “rent free.”

But St. Vincent’s Health Systems would actual pay off that 29-year lease in 20 years through an $830,000 annual lease on operating the facility. An additional 14 months of the lease payment was added in the final days of negotiations totaling $600,000.

Another change from the original wording of the letter of intent states that St. Vincent’s has a one-time opt-out clause at year 20. For lease years 21 through 29: for each of these years that St. Vincent’s St. Clair has an operating margin that exceeds five percent, the hospital will pay up to $100,000 annually in contingency rent.

“This is by far the best offer,” Batemon said.