Galveston County Commissioners kicked off a push for a hospital district Tuesday. 

Speaking to a roomful of elected officials, business leaders and heads of social services organizations, County Judge Jim Yarbrough said he was confident there were enough natural constituencies in support of a hospital district to win countywide approval in November. 

Yarbrough said the county has two options. It could create a hospital district to pay for secondary and tertiary care for county residents who are at 100 percent of federal poverty level, or county commissioners could simply vote to provide care at that level. 

The county already provides primary care to the county’s needy at the health district’s 4Cs clinics. Secondary and tertiary care involves specialists and hospitals. The county recently raised eligibility for such care from 21 percent of federal poverty level to 50 percent. A family of four would have to make less than about $4,500 a year to be eligible under the 21 percent rule. 

Yarbrough said the county had no real choice. The revenue a hospital district would generate — $12 million to $15 million — is a drop in the bucket compared to costs of rebuilding the University of Texas Medical Branch after Hurricane Ike hit Sept. 13. Estimates for repairs top $1 billion. 

But unless Galveston County creates a hospital district, or raises existing property taxes, to pay for care of its own residents, the state will not release $150 million for a new surgical tower, Yarbrough said. Before the storm, the medical branch had more than 500 hospital beds. The medical branch now has 235. 

Without the additional hospital beds, the medical branch faces another round of layoffs and a future as a “medical junior college,” Yarbrough said. Basic training would be provided at the Galveston campus, but advanced students would be sent to other places where they would see a greater variety of cases, he said. 

Creating the district would add an additional tax burden — 6 cents to 8 cents per $100 of assessed value. 

Yarbrough said county officials were reaching out to the natural constituents — people who understood the importance of the medical branch as a health care provider and an economic engine. 

If all those groups push the idea, proponents could carry an election in an off year when no big races are on the ballot, Yarbrough said. While more than 100,000 might vote in presidential elections, off-year elections can be decided by fewer than 15,000 voters in the county. 

Some people indicated they’d support the proposed hospital district. 

Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas asked whether the county needed resolutions of support from cities across the county. 

Ted Hanley, executive director of The Jesse Tree, a social-services network that operates throughout the county, said supporters should spread the word that good health and a good economy can’t be separated. 

Barbara Thompson, a member of the 4Cs advisory board, said many physicians would support the proposal. 

But others asked questions. 

Gerhard Meinecke, of Dickinson, who was critical of an earlier plan to exclude Friendswood and League City from the proposed hospital district, described the plan as a “reactive effort.”  

He asked why the county couldn’t wait and come back with plan that was less rushed, more thorough and worthy of broader public support. 

Dickinson Mayor Julie Dues Masters also asked why the county couldn’t postpone the election until May and use the time to win support for its plans. “What’s the big rush?” she asked. 

State Rep. Craig Eiland, a Galveston Democrat who was the architect of the legislature’s plan to restore the medical branch, said the new tower was critical to recovery. Eiland said legislators had made it clear that Galveston County would have to support care for its uninsured residents who show up at the medical branch. Texas has 150 hospital districts, some of which have tax rates that exceed 20 cents per $100 of assessed value. 

The legislature, after years of cutting into funding to the medical branch, had increased operating funding by more than $100 million, he said. But until Galveston County residents act, “nothing will happen” to restore the hospital beds lost to the storm, Eiland said. 

While discussion focused on the medical branch, other health care providers, such as Mainland Medical Center, also would be paid for providing services. 

County Commissioner Pat Doyle said no decisions had been made about pursing either a hospital district or a change in eligibility requirements to 100 percent of federal poverty level. Referring to a column that appeared in The Daily News, he said there was no “stealth campaign” and said there would be many opportunities for the public to comment and make suggestions. 

When The Daily News asked how people were invited to the kickoff event and questioned whether the meeting should have been open to the public, Yarbrough replied the meeting had been properly posted. Unlike most county commissioners meetings, notice of Tuesday’s meeting was not posted on the county’s Web site.  

County officials are working toward getting a proposal approved by Aug. 26.

www.galvnews.com
___________________________