Ensuring that Park Hospital District is relevant to taxpayers is of paramount importance, board members agreed during their meeting last Thursday, Jan. 8.
With unanimous agreement on that topic, the board began mapping out a series of issues to tackle during in-depth work session discussions, including mission, values, and vision development with the assistance of a facilitator, goals development, a spending policy, bylaws update, and contractual agreements for legal and website work.
To address the workload, the board also decided it needed to expand beyond regular monthly meetings and added four work sessions to its calendar in January and February. The sessions will be dedicated to specific subject matter as the board fully develops an operating structure for the organization.
“We want to develop activities that people find engaging,” said Board Vice Chairman Steve Alper.
“There are three areas that there’s a lot of concern about in the community,” said Board Secretary Janet Zeschin. “The continued success and presence of Salud, teen mental health, and the ever-present elephant of home health.”
The Park Hospital Board will regularly meet at 5:30 p.m. on the last Thursday of the month in February, March, April, May, June, July, October, and December in the Town Board Meeting Room at Town Hall.
In accordance with state regulations, specific board meeting information will be posted on the district’s website at least 24 hours before a meeting. However, “I want more than 24 hours’ notice,” said Chair Cory Workman.
Workman and Zeschin agreed to combine efforts in scheduling work sessions and assigning topics for meetings on Jan. 20, Jan. 30, Feb. 3, and Feb. 17.
The board is seeking assistance from Heather Drees, who has been hired as a part-time administrative assistant. Drees will maintain her full-time position as senior administrative assistant with the Estes Valley Recreation and Park District while working with the PHD.
Although the board agreed on its direction for future study, members are still working through some discord, dealing with issues that arose prior to the transfer of Estes Park Health to UCHealth management.
The selection of legal counsel is one subject that sparks heated conversation, even though on Dec. 11, the board voted with minimal discussion to retain Mark Sabey of Hall Render for legal services.
“I haven’t been happy at all with legal services,” said Tom Leigh. “I’d like to make a decision as a board on who’s going to represent us, not just roll over because this is the way we’ve always done it, or this is convenient, or we think these (people) may be good.”
“I think the board needs to consider it, discuss, consider several options, and make a decision when we talk to them (other legal firms). Just because David Snow negotiated the contract (with UCHealth), it’s not so complicated that somebody else can’t understand it,” said Leigh.
Alper, who was on the EPH board during negotiations, disagreed.
“We already discussed this,” Alper said. “We said we want to see what our needs are.” Alper contended that the PHD board should maintain its affiliation with Hall Render because of the company’s work in bringing the UCHealth transaction to completion.
“Hall Render is the one who has all the intellectual knowledge about the deal with UCHealth,” Alper said. “If anything legal comes up, it’s going to have to do with that contract. If there’s any significant problems I foresee in the future, it’s going to have to do with someone not meeting your obligations with the contract with UC Health. So we’re going to be tied to Hall Render for several years, because they’re the people who have the expertise on the contract.”