Public Hospital District No. 1 Commissioners

Meeting Notice:

Public Hospital District No. 1 Board of Hospital Commissioners meet every second and fourth Tuesday of the month (except holidays) beginning at 8 a.m. in the Washington Room at Mason General Hospital.
Exceptions to this will be sent to the Shelton Journal for publication per state law.

Public Hospital District No.1, the governing body of Mason General Hospital, Oakland Bay Pediatrics and North Mason Medical Clinic in Belfair, officers for the 2007 Board of Commissioners. Nancy Trucksess, Shelton, was re-elected as president of the three person commission; Don Wilson, Potlatch, is secretary; and Scott Hilburn, Shelton, is trustee.

Bill McComb , Public Hospital District No.1 president and commissioner from Grapeview, resigned May 23 to spend more time with his family and business, McComb Funeral Home and Crematory, Shelton. Local retired businessman and public servant, Scott Hilburn, was appointed to fill that position.

"This was a tough decision to make," said Bill, at the commission meeting. "I have spent nearly sixteen years involved with the hospital district in some capacity, and it has truly become a part of me. However, it is time that I step down. The district is in very capable hands and the leadership here is outstanding, so the timing is perfect for me to make this move."

Bill first became involved with the hospital district in 1991 as a charter member of the Mason General Hospital Foundation board, later becoming president of that board. In June 1998, he was appointed hospital district commissioner, when Ken Fredson stepped down. Bill was later elected to a six-year term.

On the appointment of Scott Hilburn, former hospital district commissioner from 1984 - 90, owner of Scott Hilburn Auto Center and mayor of Shelton, Nancy Trucksess , president of the hospital district commission stated, "We are delighted to have someone of Scott's healthcare and civic background, energy, time and community support accept this position. We are a small board and need someone in place immediately, who knows what being a commissioner is all about and does not need to be brought up to speed. Scott knows the county, the issues and the constraints that we, as a board, must work within. He is ideal for this position, and we couldn't ask for a person more highly regarded in the community and who knows the hospital district."

Scott has been a very active supporter of the hospital district for more than 22 years. Scott first served as a hospital district commissioner in the 1980's. After he left the commission, he and his wife, Karen, became active members in the Foundation, serving the past two years as hosts of Fantasy Forest's Diamond Dinner and Gala Auction and establishing the Karen Hilburn Breast Cancer Fund, which helps women in Mason County who are underinsured or non-insured for breast cancer treatment, receive financial assistance. Scott has also served on various Foundation and hospital district committees. In addition, he is on the elder board of his church and building committee.

"I look forward to being of service to the community once again as a hospital district commissioner. The community has been very good to me and my family, and I will give the necessary time and commitment needed to help lead our hospital district in the direction of continuing to serve the medical needs of our community," said Scott.

Bruce Jorgenson, president of the Shelton Hospital Association,

presented Mason General Hospital with a check for $48,000 in December for new equipment in 2006. Don Wilson, right, president of the hospital board of commissioners, accepted the check on behalf of the hospital. The Shelton Hospital Association was formed in the late sixties with the closing of the privately owned Shelton Hospital. With the hospital’s assets, an endowment was established to support healthcare in Mason County. Over the years, the Shelton Hospital Association has donated more than $ 1,000,000 to MGH and the clinics for needed equipment and services.

Hospital Joins County's Goal to"Continue to Strive to Meet Healthcare Needs of Community"

This past spring a group of interested citizens came together several times to learn how to build and support a future local healthcare system that is needed in Mason County.

In a rural community like Mason County, the health sector is also one of the more vital economic engines. Understanding and moving ahead in regard to its needs is important not only for a healthcare arena, but for economic viability in the County.

This project was made possible by a grant for technical assistance that Mason County received from the National Association of Counties. Mason Matters assisted the County in procuring the grant.

"This was an excellent opportunity for the community to come together and look at all facets of out healthcare system," said Mason County Commissioner, Jayni Kamin.

Mason General Hospital CEO, Bob Appel, CFO, Eric Moll and President of the Board of Hospital Commissioners, Don Wilson were part of the committee.

4. Estimate the secondary impacts of the health sector on Mason County's economy.

In the economic report, employment and payroll are the important direct economic activities created in Mason County from the health sector. The health sector is divided into the following five components: hospitals; doctors, dentists and other medical professionals; nursing and protective care; pharmacies; and other medical health services.

In Mason County, healthcare accounts for $82 million in payroll and about 1,900 well-paying jobs with benefits.

MGH's component employs 452 people with an annual payroll of nearly $22 million. Each of these healthcare jobs, in turn, supports another 1,600 local jobs, generating an additional $49 million in payroll, for a total economic impact of $131 million. The employment multiplier for MGH is 1.91. This indicates that for each job created in the hospital, 0.91 jobs are created throughout the area due to the business and household spending. The income multiplier for the hospital sector is 1.55. This means that for each dollar created at MGH, 0.55 dollars are created throughout the area due to business and household spending.

However, the healthcare environment is changing, and rural communities need to be proactive and do things differently in order to keep the current viable healthcare system in place.

Rural communities are generally poorer and older than the urban communities, meaning more people are covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Over the years, the U.S. federal government has been making cuts in the reimbursement rates for these insurance programs. These cuts hurt the rural medical providers and hospitals harder than their urban counter parts, making it more difficult for them to stay in business. For Mason County, this means that more people are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, and that our local providers are receiving less and less for their services.

Second, rural communities like Mason County are projected to experience a higher than usual increase in our senior population. In 2000, citizens over the age of 65 years represented 17 percent of our population. This is expected to increase to 28 percent of the population in 2025. "This means we need to be planning now for the types of healthcare services that this growing senior population will need. Mason County is an attractive place for seniors to retire. We can make it more attractive and help seniors stay in the community if we have the healthcare services that seniors need," stated Emmett Doby, director of Community Development for Mason County.

The third challenge to rural health care systems is the growing number of people without any health insurance. In rural communities, a large number of jobs are created by small businesses. These days, it is hard for small businesses to offer health insurance to their employees, and it is getting harder all the time. Statewide, of the people who lack health insurance, 75 percent are employed but do not qualify for health insurance benefits from their employer, or cannot afford coverage, or receive no benefits

The economic impact of the health sector upon the economy of Mason County is tremendous. The health sector employs a large number of residents, similar to a large industrial firm. The secondary impact occurring in the community is extremely large and measures the total impact of the health sector. If the health sector increases or decreases in size, the medical health of the community as well as the economic health of the community are greatly affected. For the attraction of industrial firms, businesses and retirees, it is crucial that the area have a sufficient and quality health sector.

This ad-hoc committee also helped Mason County commissioners, along with Public Hospital District No. 1 commissioners, plan for the healthcare system by creating a telephone survey to see what drives the healthcare needs and wants in Mason County.

"The preliminary survey results were very encouraging in terms of the high satisfaction levels with the services provided by Mason General, especially in our Emergency services," said Eric Moll , chief financial officer at MGH. "Access to physicians is a concerning issue. The providers in Mason County perform a high quality service, but according to NACO researchers, the number of physicians necessary to serve Mason County needs to double. In a way, this is encouraging, because it shows the demand for services locally is increasing. Pubic Hospital District No. 1 commissioners are firmly committed to meeting these challenges and continuing to provide access to healthcare services."

The survey results have been realized but have not been acted upon by the committee. "We plan to regroup in September to see where we need to go with the data," added Kimberley Klint , executive director of Mason Matters. "The data will be used by a number of organizations in upcoming strategic planning activities, including the County Comprehensive Plan and Mason General Hospital."

HOSPITAL BOARD REFINANCES BOND TO SAVE TAX DOLLARS

SHELTON, Wash. - The governing body of Mason General Hospital, Public Hospital District No. 1 Board of Commissioners, refinanced in September the tax supported construction bond for MGH. The original bond was levied in 1990 for $10.5 million to remodel and add more than 29,000 square feet to MGH. The levy will drop from 21cents to 14 cents per $1,000 of property value. "The refinancing allows us to reduce the taxes supporting the bond by 33 percent," said Don Wilson, president of the three-person commission. "This is a huge benefit to the taxpayers of Mason County."

"Moving in this direction is due to the sustained quality of leadership from the Hospital Commissioners and the long-tenure of the hospital administrator," added Eric Moll, chief financial officer for the Hospital District and MGH. "Having this opportunity to refinance at such a large savings is due in part to the strong, solid leadership of the Hospital District and its financial strength." Of MGH's 2005 projected net revenues of $50 million, less than five percent come from tax support.

RURAL HOSPITAL EXECUTIVES INVITED TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

Seven rural hospitals from Washington state were recently invited to attend "Rural Advocacy Days" and meet with Washington state Congressional delegates in Washington, D.C.

"This was a rare time for us to talk with Norm Dicks and others from our Congressional delegation about the issues important to rural hospitals," said Don Wilson, president of the board of hospital commissioners for Public Hospital District No. 1, the governing body of Mason General Hospital, North Mason Medical Clinic and Oakland Bay Pediatrics. "It was important for us to discuss with our delegates areas of concern for Critical Access Hospitals, which affect Mason General." The areas addressed by the hospital delegates included laboratory reimbursement, increasing the number of patient beds available for Critical Access Hospitals and allowing Critical Access Hospitals into the federal drug-purchasing group. Bob Appel, CEO of MGH, and Wilson made the trip along with staff from the Washington State Hospital Association, and CEOs and hospital commissioners from other rural Washington hospitals.

"It is gratifying to see the level of support that we received from our delegation when Hospital Commissioners and Trustees join us in addressing the delegation," Bob Appel commented.