Hospital district distances itself from foundation

Crook County Medical Services District (CCMSD) has dropped the idea of occupying the new Hulett clinic without, at this time, attempting to intervene in the Crook County Medical Foundation’s (CCMF) plans to rent it to a competing company.

At last week’s meeting of the board of trustees, Chairman Mark Erickson made it clear that the district does not intend to cease providing services in Hulett or make any changes to the current services on offer. He also clarified that the district is not affiliated with the foundation in any way.

During the meeting, Erickson handed out copies of last week’s issue and read out loud the front page headline that “Campbell County Health [is] to occupy new Hulett clinic.”

“Evidently,” he said, “They have reached an agreement.”

The two organizations have been negotiating for many months over the future of the newly built clinic, without being able to reach an accord. The district was unwilling to pay rent without having any stake in the clinic’s future, which the majority of board members felt could be solved by asking the foundation to donate the building once it had been paid off.

The foundation, however, balked at the idea of committing to a donation before the cost of construction had been paid back and its members expressed repeatedly that they felt the district was not being supportive.

With no middle ground in sight, progress appeared to have been on hold over the last couple of months – until the foundation announced last Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with Campbell County Health (CCH) instead.

At the district board’s meeting the following day, Erickson pointed out that Tracy Bush’s letter to the editor referred to the “Crook County Medical Foundation of Hulett” in its opening paragraph. On that basis, he felt it necessary to clarify that the two organizations are completely separate.

“I think it is imperative that the people of the community understand that the way the foundation is now set up, if they want to support CCMSD, donations would need to go directly to our hospital,” he said.

Erickson was referring to a fact that has been mentioned before during the negotiation period: the foundation is bound only to support the medical services needs of this county, which means it is not obligated to work with the district in order to achieve that goal.

“There is a clear delineation now [between the district and foundation], and has been for some time,” Erickson said.

Erickson also took the opportunity to remind the community that CCMSD is still present and operational in Hulett. “We do presently have a clinic operating and fully functional, Monday through Friday, in Hulett,” he said.

The district, Erickson added, will continue to support patients as needed. He later confirmed that Bob Cummings will continue as CCMSD’s provider in its Hulett clinic.

“I guess we’re now just moving on,” he said.