Texas County Memorial Hospital has completed a plan with its neighboring businesses to create a funding mechanism to finish building a new surgical wing at the city’s largest employer.
Wes Murray, CEO of the county-owned hospital, told members of the Houston City Council on Monday the organization is proposing using a short-term funding mechanism — a Community Improvement District (CID) — that would generate enough money to entirely replace its 40-year-old surgical wing.
Under a draft plan, retailers in the CID would collect about $675,000 from a quarter-cent sales tax that would be earmarked for the project and other expenses associated with its creation. Upon reaching the cap, the sales tax would halt in an estimated five-seven years. The plan, which is used in other communities in the state, is unique in that it is usually tapped by developers to pay for infrastructure in private investments. In this case, the funds have a specified use at a public institution that is known before its creation, and the sales tax would end when the hospital’s new surgical wing is funded. Murray said he’d be fine with the city even receiving the money and disbursing it, if the city wishes.
Murray said the work desperately needs completion, and the hospital, which has a workforce of about 400 and total economic impact of more than $25 million annually, has few options remaining to pursue the project in a healthcare environment that is challenging. He said a few rural hospitals have closed or on the brink.
The hospital has conducted a capital campaign across the county, successfully sought grants and the five-member board has set money aside for the project. The last funding link will move the hospital closer to the new surgical wing.
Upon a recommendation from Murray, the city set a 5:30 p.m. Oct. 15 public hearing for feedback. If the city approves, a board of contiguous property owners or their representatives would oversee the funds, which would be earmarked for the surgical wing project. Of those in the small zone near the hospital, only one property owner, a church, didn’t sign the paperwork and did not indicate plans to contest it.
Attending the meeting with Murray were Jay Gentry, TCMH Healthcare Foundation director; and a representative of GilmoreBell, which has expertise in setting up the districts.
Opposition came from frequent government critic, George Sholtz of Upton, who said the plan smacked of socialism that would create a “slush fund.”