The Sublette County Rural

Health Care District board of trustees elected

offiers for 2020 at its Nov. 20 meeting.

All board members were present, including

Chairman Wendy Boman, Tonia Hoffman,

Bill Johnson, Mike Pompy and Marti

Seipp.

The board passed a unanimous motion

to reelect Wendy Boman as board chairman

and Tonia Hoffman as secretary and treasurer.

Bill Johnson, currently serving as vice

chairman, requested that someone else serve

in his position for 2020. Johnson is serving a

two-year term, and said at the meeting that he

wanted someone with a longer term to act as

vice-chairman for 2020.

The board nominated Pompy as the new

vice chairman for 2020, and passed a unanimous

resolution electing him to that position.

Update on Sublette Center

Clay Kainer, attorney for the SCRHCD,

announced at the meeting that he and the attorney

for the Sublette Center, Nick Healey,

were “going through the due diligence reports”

on a proposed agreement to combine

the Sublette Center and SCRHCD. Kainer

said that once the attorneys worked out the

final legal requirements, they will “make recommendations”

to the boards of the Sublette

Center and health care district for final approval

of a contract.

Dave Doorn, administrative director for

the health care district, told the Roundup

that rather than a “true merger” between the

Sublette Center and health care district, the

agreement will likely involve the SCRHCD

purchasing the Sublette Center.

If both boards approve a sale, Doorn added

that the funds for the purchase will not affect

the cost and amount on the loan application

to the USDA for the proposed critical access

hospital and assisted living facility. The plan

is to maintain a separate board to oversee the

operation of any future assisted living facility,

Doorn said.

During the Nov. 20 meeting, Boman and

Johnson said that board is still waiting for

Eide Bailly Financial Services to complete its

report on the district’s finances. Boman added

that she is “putting pressure” on Eide Bailly

to “complete the report by the December

Commissioner’s meeting.” Once the report

is complete, the SCRHCD can move forward

with its loan application to the USDA and an

agreement with the Sublette Center.

In other rural health care board news:

• Doorn reported that “overall activity” at

both the Pinedale and Marbleton clinics was

up 9.62 percent this October when compared

to last year’s figures. Scheduled appointments

at the Marbleton Clinic increased 44 percent

from last October while radiology, CT scans

and ultrasound appointments helped numbers

at the Pinedale Clinic.

Revenue for the SCRHCD increased by 9

percent from last year to October 2019.

“This is one of the highest months we’ve

reported in years,” Doorn said. “Our revenue

is headed in the right direction.”

• Bill Kluck, Sublette County EMS operations

director, announced the purchase of a

new engine to replace one that failed in an

ambulance. The new engine cost the district

around $18,000. Kluck said he and Doorn

looked into purchasing a new ambulance

since this is the third motor for the vehicle.

The chassis on the existing ambulance is still

“really good,” Kluck said, and buying a new

engine is much lower than the cost of a new

ambulance at around $200,000.

• Emily Ray, the district communications

coordinator, announced that Shauna Giles,

ACNP, will be at the clinics to conduct sleep

studies for patients in Sublette County beginning

in January.

• Doorn told the board that Jorgensen and

Associates completed the survey of the 8-acre

parcel of land at the existing ball fields that

the SCRHCD plans to purchase for a critical

access hospital. He said that the soil tests

completed last year can be used this year, saving

the district money.