Oktibbeha County supervisors will get their first look at a request for proposals for the sale or lease of OCH Regional Medical Center at 9 a.m. Monday when attorneys from Butler Snow and hospital consultant Ted Woodrell reveal a draft of the document to the board.
Woodrell declined to comment on the specific language of the RFP Friday, since supervisors have yet to see the document, but said the draft contains language meant to provide certain safeguards if a transaction agreement is reached, including requirements for short-term staffing numbers and commitments to capital improvement.
“Those are specific issues the board wanted addressed. In transactions, staffing is always addressed and so are strategic planning issues,” Woodrell said. “I don’t want to speculate on the final version (of the RFP) since that is at the board’s discretion.”
District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer has repeatedly called for an RFP to contain those types of safeguards and said Friday that other issues could be included in the document, including indigent care provisions and commitments to community involvement.
“I’m really concerned about the growth of the hospital, including who has the capacity to come in and take us beyond where we’re at now. I like setting benchmarks. If you can’t meet them and don’t have the financial capabilities to make us stronger, then don’t apply,” Trainer said. “There’s going to be a lot of generic things in there, but there will also be things specific to our situation.”
Monday’s discussions could be held in executive session away from the public, but Trainer said he was open to having those talks during the open-door portion of the meeting.
Supervisors could come to a consensus on the document’s final wording after those discussions, but Trainer said the board could also recess and come back to the subject later in the day, week or month as needed.
Many of the votes surrounding the future of OCH as a publicly owned health care facility have followed a similar 3-2 split, with Trainer, District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams advancing the process and District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery and District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard opposing any step moving the hospital closer toward a potential transaction.
Monday’s vote to solidify the RFP’s language is expected to mirror previous actions.
Through Woodrell, Trainer said supervisors have reached out to OCH Chief Executive Officer Richard Hilton and the hospital board of trustees and invited them to take part in the process to craft the RFP.
Hospital officials have not yet responded to those overtures, Trainer said, and Hilton did not return a phone call for comment Friday.
“We’d like for them to come in and work together with us to determine the best way forward for the community,” Miller said.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.