HCH officials seek support for tax

Members of the Holton City Commission expressed agreement with Holton Community Hospital chief executive officer Carrie Lutz that a proposed quarter-percent sales tax at the county level would be a boon for the hospital in light of a reduction in revenues and reimbursements at the federal level.

During the commission’s regular meeting on Monday, Lutz met with commissioners to explain the need for the quarter-percent sales tax, which will go before voters in the Tuesday, Nov. 4 general election, noting that at previous HCH-hosted town halls on the proposed sales tax, she had heard “a lot of speculation” on why taxpayer support is needed at this point in time.

Commissioners noted that while there are public concerns about the proposed sales tax, an extra 25 cents on a $100 purchase would be a small price to pay in order to keep high-quality hospital services in the Holton community.

“If it’s three o’clock in the morning and the snow is blowing, don’t you want to be five minutes from an emergency room that’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, instead of going to Onaga 25 miles away over the hills, or instead of going to Topeka 35 miles away?” commissioner Marilyn Watkins asked.

Lutz said that at previous town hall meetings about the proposed sales tax, she had received questions from county residents about why financial support was needed for the hospital, which was built in 1999 and saw a major addition being built onto the hospital, opening in early 2021.

The proposed sales tax, Lutz said, involved a lot of “jumping through hoops” at the state level to get it onto the November ballot, and seeking the sales tax, which is estimated to generate $300,000 to $400,000 annually for the hospital, “wasn’t a decision our board came to lightly.”

But in the last five years, she said, “the workforce has changed,” and expenses have gone up about 30 percent in that period, and cuts in changes to Medicare and Medicare Advantage payments to the hospital “have really crept into our market.”

Lutz noted that reductions in revenue have caused HCH to close its home health and hospice department, but noted that the community was “lucky” to have Faith Home Health and Hospice stepping in earlier this year to take over those services from HCH. She added that the hospital has been working to expand its services in the realm of mental health care as well in recent years.

Watkins offered praise for hospital staffers on the level of care that HCH patients receive.

“Only six percent of patients are usually transferred out of the hospital,” Watkins said. “I think that says a lot about the staff we have out there and the care they receive when they go out there.”

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