Next week, Pawnee County residents will vote whether they’re willing to pay for an emergency room in this county-seat town.
“We told people we’d have something ready to go by Oct. 1 and this is it,” said Harry Zielke, a pharmacist at the Pamida store in Larned and a member of the Pawnee County Community Health Organization.
“Everybody’s pretty united, I think,” Zielke said. “Nobody wants to be without the coverage. There doesn’t seem to be much of an organized opposition.”
A special Aug. 18 ballot seeks approval to raise sales taxes by one cent and dedicate the revenue to operate an emergency room that will also offer outpatient services.
The vote became necessary, Zielke said, after Catholic Health Initiatives in June announced it would close the city’s 25-bed hospital due to several years of declining market share.
A one-cent sale tax is expected to generate about $700,000 a year, starting Jan. 1.
The Pawnee County Commission already has approved a six-mill increase in the county’s property tax levy to help pay for the emergency room. That’s expected to raise about $350,000 a year.
The mill-levy increase is subject to a protest petition. If one is filed, county commissioners will have the option of putting the measure on a countywide ballot, modifying it, or dropping it altogether. If a petition is not filed, the increase will take effect.
Hays Medical Center will be a “managing partner” in the emergency room-outpatient facility, Zielke said:
“Essentially, we’ll be an extension of their emergency room.”
The proposal was scheduled to be the subject of simultaneous town hall meetings at 7 p.m. today at the Larned Community Center, Rozel High School, and Garfield Community Building.
“This’ll be out third set of meetings,” said Mary Beth Herrmann, who runs the Pawnee County Health Department and is chairwoman of the Community Health Organization board.
“We’re doing everything we can to get the word out,” Herrmann said. “Being in the position I’m in, I’ve heard nothing but favorable remarks about what it is we’re wanting to do. People are wisely cautious about increasing taxes, but they also see this as a chance to regain some control of health care in the community.”
Catholic Health Initiatives, which also owns and operates Central Kansas Medical Center in Great Bend, has turned down Community Health Organization’s overtures for keeping the Larned hospital open.
Larned is 22 miles southwest of Great Bend, 60 miles south of Hays.
“This has really galvanized the community,” Herrmann said. “Something good will come of this.”
-Dave Ranney is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at dranney@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 128.