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Hospital moving forward with tax election
By Thelma Grimes
The San Pedro Valley Hospital District is moving forward with election plans without official approval from the Arizona Legislature.
Benson Hospital CEO Ron McKinnon said he's sure the legislature will pass the bill that would allow them to hold the special tax election, but to meet election deadlines, they have to send out ballots before lawmakers officially vote.
The hospital was caught in the crossfire of a new law passed in 2007, requiring school districts to hold override and bond elections only in November. The problem with the law was that hospitals also have to hold such elections in November, and Benson and one other hospital in the state were faced with losing up to $1 million in revenues if an emergency bill weren't passed by the state legislature to hold an election as planned this summer.
Tom Schelling, Cochise County Election Director, said the new law passed because lawmakers felt more people vote in November elections.
The San Pedro Valley Hospital District (SPVHD) goes to voters every five years to seek approval to continue the secondary hospital district property tax.
The tax, which is 90 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, was first approved in 1999. It was last approved in 2004.
Denise Hurtado, the hospital's chief financial officer, said if the tax isn't voted on as planned, the hospital could lose up to $45,000 a month for maintenance and operations.
Schelling said if Benson Hospital has to wait until November to get voter approval on the secondary tax, it could cost as much as $1 million.
McKinnon said by mailing out election ballots, which registered voters started receiving last week, they are not breaking any laws, and can hold the election even though the legislature has not officially approved House Bill 2155.
McKinnon went a step further, stating he has received assurances from lawmakers that the bill will be approved. It would have already been approved, but some required changes were made in the Senate, sending it back to the House of Representatives for another vote.
McKinnon said the original wording on the bill would have allowed an emergency election to be held by districts with a population of 10,000 or less.
However, McKinnon said it had to be amended to allow districts with minimum population of 20,000, since the San Pedro Valley Hospital District also covers St. David, Pomerene, J-Six and Mescal and Dragoon.
In the all-mail election, McKinnon said registered voters in the district have until June 23 to send their votes to the Cochise County Recorder's office, or the Benson Hospital at 450 S. Ocotillo Street in town.
There is one question on the ballot, stating a yes vote will allow the secondary tax to continue, starting this year. A no vote would stop the added revenue that hospital board members and administrators said is crucial to keep up operations.
Cary Golden, president of the SPVHD, said the emergency room, which was expanded in recent years, sees a lot of illegal immigrants and patients without insurance. That means the hospital is never reimbursed for those services.
"The majority of our money comes from the tax money," he said. "Without it, I'm not sure if the Benson Hospital could stay open."
Golden estimated that the ER sees about 300 patients a month, noting that about half of them actually pay.
"A lot of the tax money goes toward paying for full time employees, paying utilities like gas and electric," he said. "These are some of the hospital's major costs."
Golden said the Benson Hospital is also one of the town's biggest employers, noting that it falls below the larger corporations like Sulphur Springs Valley Electric and the Arizona Electric Power cooperatives. The difference being, they get more revenues from people paying their bills.
Golden said the hospital has also become important to the community with so many added services. Besides a bigger emergency room, they have tapped into digital technology and offer more scans such as mammograms and other specialty services to help local residents that may not be able to travel outside of town for the tests.
Local physician, Dr. Carter Mayberry, has also said residents must pass the secondary tax to keep the hospital running.
In a letter, Mayberry said, "As one of the local physicians, I urge voters to vote in favor of continuing the secondary tax to support maintenance and operations expenses for Benson Hospital. Benson Hospital provides crucial medical services for our community; failure to continue the tax support would likely seriously jeopardize the hospital's ability to continue to provide the quality of services that they now provide."
Residents can cast their vote until 7 p.m. on June 23. For more information contact the hospital at 586-2261.
Benson Hospital CEO Ron McKinnon said he's sure the legislature will pass the bill that would allow them to hold the special tax election, but to meet election deadlines, they have to send out ballots before lawmakers officially vote.
The hospital was caught in the crossfire of a new law passed in 2007, requiring school districts to hold override and bond elections only in November. The problem with the law was that hospitals also have to hold such elections in November, and Benson and one other hospital in the state were faced with losing up to $1 million in revenues if an emergency bill weren't passed by the state legislature to hold an election as planned this summer.
Tom Schelling, Cochise County Election Director, said the new law passed because lawmakers felt more people vote in November elections.
The San Pedro Valley Hospital District (SPVHD) goes to voters every five years to seek approval to continue the secondary hospital district property tax.
The tax, which is 90 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, was first approved in 1999. It was last approved in 2004.
Denise Hurtado, the hospital's chief financial officer, said if the tax isn't voted on as planned, the hospital could lose up to $45,000 a month for maintenance and operations.
Schelling said if Benson Hospital has to wait until November to get voter approval on the secondary tax, it could cost as much as $1 million.
McKinnon said by mailing out election ballots, which registered voters started receiving last week, they are not breaking any laws, and can hold the election even though the legislature has not officially approved House Bill 2155.
McKinnon went a step further, stating he has received assurances from lawmakers that the bill will be approved. It would have already been approved, but some required changes were made in the Senate, sending it back to the House of Representatives for another vote.
McKinnon said the original wording on the bill would have allowed an emergency election to be held by districts with a population of 10,000 or less.
However, McKinnon said it had to be amended to allow districts with minimum population of 20,000, since the San Pedro Valley Hospital District also covers St. David, Pomerene, J-Six and Mescal and Dragoon.
In the all-mail election, McKinnon said registered voters in the district have until June 23 to send their votes to the Cochise County Recorder's office, or the Benson Hospital at 450 S. Ocotillo Street in town.
There is one question on the ballot, stating a yes vote will allow the secondary tax to continue, starting this year. A no vote would stop the added revenue that hospital board members and administrators said is crucial to keep up operations.
Cary Golden, president of the SPVHD, said the emergency room, which was expanded in recent years, sees a lot of illegal immigrants and patients without insurance. That means the hospital is never reimbursed for those services.
"The majority of our money comes from the tax money," he said. "Without it, I'm not sure if the Benson Hospital could stay open."
Golden estimated that the ER sees about 300 patients a month, noting that about half of them actually pay.
"A lot of the tax money goes toward paying for full time employees, paying utilities like gas and electric," he said. "These are some of the hospital's major costs."
Golden said the Benson Hospital is also one of the town's biggest employers, noting that it falls below the larger corporations like Sulphur Springs Valley Electric and the Arizona Electric Power cooperatives. The difference being, they get more revenues from people paying their bills.
Golden said the hospital has also become important to the community with so many added services. Besides a bigger emergency room, they have tapped into digital technology and offer more scans such as mammograms and other specialty services to help local residents that may not be able to travel outside of town for the tests.
Local physician, Dr. Carter Mayberry, has also said residents must pass the secondary tax to keep the hospital running.
In a letter, Mayberry said, "As one of the local physicians, I urge voters to vote in favor of continuing the secondary tax to support maintenance and operations expenses for Benson Hospital. Benson Hospital provides crucial medical services for our community; failure to continue the tax support would likely seriously jeopardize the hospital's ability to continue to provide the quality of services that they now provide."
Residents can cast their vote until 7 p.m. on June 23. For more information contact the hospital at 586-2261.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bensonnews-sun.com.
cog wrote on Jun 22, 2009 1:10 AM:
" So the gist of this is the hospital wants us to pay for the illegals and others who won't pay their bill and in return we get substandard facilities and blatant cronyism in staff hiring. That about sums it up doesn;t it? I'll vote "NO, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! "
justme wrote on Jun 23, 2009 9:32 AM:
" in response to the comment of cog,
the gist of OUR hospital is to treat all thoes in the san pedro valley who need medical care, and don't want to wait hours and hours to been seen in Tucson or Sierra Vista, our hospital treats anybody who walks thru the door , even if you don't have medical coverage, that cog includes my family and mant others I know , MY VOTE IS YES!!!!!! "
the gist of OUR hospital is to treat all thoes in the san pedro valley who need medical care, and don't want to wait hours and hours to been seen in Tucson or Sierra Vista, our hospital treats anybody who walks thru the door , even if you don't have medical coverage, that cog includes my family and mant others I know , MY VOTE IS YES!!!!!! "
dc wrote on Jun 23, 2009 7:43 PM:
" Many moons ago I had a family member work at Benson Hospital. She and all the others who worked there took pride in helping people, and they were friendly too! From what I've seen, on a couple of occasions when arriving at urgent care the person who works in the admitting end of it, had been living in the ice age. Now the medical staff was great! It seems that the administration staff should be taking some lessons from the medical staff on how to treat people. I voted, and voted No. "
Concerned wrote on Jun 23, 2009 10:04 PM:
" You only think of it as money out of your pocket until you need the hospitals services. When your loved ones need help you want the closest facility, I would direct my loved ones to Benson Hospital before any larger hospital in the area! Quality care, Capable staff That is what Benson Hospital provides! "
cdg wrote on Jun 18, 2009 7:02 PM: