Interest in Tuesday night’s meeting is prompting the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission to change locations.
The meeting will still be at 6 pm, but it’s moving from the Municipal Court Room to White Auditorium’s Little Theater.
The move reflects the conversations all month long about Newman Regional Health’s proposed zoning code text changes with Stormont-Vail Health planning a better than $30 million medical facility in Emporia. If recommended by the Planning Commission and approved later by the Emporia City Commission, the changes would require outside medical entities to specify the nature and extent of services to be provided, the extent of services already being provided and how current services are inadequate for community need.
This also comes less than a day after Lyon County government issued a lengthy post on what the proposed changes are designed to — and not designed to do. The county says the proposed adjustments will give local government additional time to “evaluate the services the applicant proposes to provide, and the economic impact it would have on our community.” The post also says there is an avenue for said projects to continue through the official review process if they are initially found as “unduly duplicative.”
The county post also mentions the possibility of Newman Regional Health shutting down if outside agencies provide only the profit-generating services already offered by the local hospital, meaning a loss of jobs, a potential loss of services, increased property taxes through bond obligations, the loss of local businesses and other potential impacts. Newman Regional Health CEO Cathy Pimple has said losing revenue from outside agencies could well lead to requests for additional county funding, although she has said on KVOE’s airwaves the hospital will remain in place and available for residents needing care.
KVOE News has reached out to Commission Chair Rollie Martin for comment.
Statement by Lyon County
There has been a lot of information in the media lately about Stormont Vail and Newman Regional Health. Let’s take a moment to talk about some of the misconceptions, truths, and potential outcomes.
The biggest misconception is that the Lyon County Commission is trying to “shut down” other healthcare organizations from expanding in the county by supporting the text changes regarding medical facilities. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The proposed text changes allow extra time to evaluate the services the applicant proposes to provide, and the economic impact it would have on our community. The applicant would be required to apply for a Conditional Use Permit and disclose the nature of the services to be provided and a floor plan illustrating the layout of all rooms and space within the structure(s), including existing structures.
The Conditional Use Permit application would then go to the Planning Commission and Governing Body for review. If the Committee finds that the services the applicant wishes to provide are unduly duplicative with like services being adequately provided or reasonably anticipated to be provided through existing community hospital services in the greater Emporia and Lyon County communities, the conditional use permit may be denied “unless a means can be determined to condition the provision of those services under a special use permit in a manner which will avoid or properly ameliorate what would otherwise be improper negative impacts upon the continued availability and development of community hospital services.” A final denial of a conditional use permit could not be issued without the applicant first being provided with a reasonable opportunity to propose suitable and adequate conditions.
What does all of this mean? It means that the applicant would have to provide proof of what they want to do, their floorplan, and show how it wouldn’t be detrimental to Lyon County and surrounding communities. If they choose to only duplicate the services that make money, then it would be detrimental to our community. Those services that make money are what keep the hospital functioning, especially the obstetrics department, inpatient care, and emergency department. If Newman Regional Health were to lose the services that make money, they would very likely have to shut down. Think about that for a moment. If our hospital has to shut down that could potentially set a lot of negative events in motion.
1. A lot of valuable employees could be without a job;
2. Our community, as well as surrounding communities, could lose services that may not be offered at any new facility;
3. The hospital and its equipment could potentially have to be sold and any remaining bond obligation that the County has on the hospital would have to be satisfied by the county, which could increase property taxes.
4. Emporia and Lyon County have been working on community development. If we were to lose our hospital it would have a devastating impact on that progress.
5. Without a hospital, it is very likely we would lose some of our industrial businesses.
6. Without a hospital, it is also very likely we would lose a lot of the events that have put Emporia/Lyon County on the map.
Let’s talk about a better solution for any potential medical facility. Would they be willing to bring a service to our community that we don’t have, but need? Could we ask the citizens what they want and see if we could collaborate with a medical partner on that? Lyon County and Newman Regional Health are open to discussions on this.
In closing, this is our community, let’s make careful choices after considering the impacts, and move forward with a strategic plan to make Lyon County an even more amazing place to live.
