Finances will dominate discussions when the Park Hospital District Board of Directors meets on Wednesday, June 3.
In addition to hearing an auditor’s report for 2025, the board is expected to establish a new budget for 2026, discuss issues related to the management of the former Estes Park Health retirement plan, and elect officers for the coming year.
The meeting, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the boardroom at Town Hall, was postponed from its regular May meeting date to accommodate board member Steve Alper’s vacation schedule.
A 2025 audit presentation by the accounting firm Eide Bailly will be divided into two parts. The first will cover the financial activity for the first 11 months of 2025, ending on Nov. 30, during which the district board oversaw operations at Estes Park Health.
The second will cover the fiscal period ending December 31, following the transaction when Estes Park Health transferred its operations to UCHealth, the nonprofit healthcare system that now administers the local medical center, which has been renamed UCHealth Estes Valley Medical Center.
Also on the agenda for discussion and action is a memorandum of understanding between the district and UCHealth dealing with the amount of money the district can spend this fiscal year.
The definitive agreement between the Park Hospital District and UCHealth, which transferred all health care operations, calls for UCHealth to assume all but $200,000 of the district’s property tax collections in exchange for the nonprofit operating Estes Park’s hospital, medical clinic, and urgent care center.
In February, the PHD board members realized the allocation was unrealistic, as legal fees incurred in January exceeded more than half of the designated amount. Click here to review the treasurer’s reports and analysis.
By early May, the district learned that in addition to a $163,000 legal bill, annual fees for the company managing the former Estes Park Health retirement plans could total about $80,000.
As of the board’s last special meeting on May 13, board members still were sorting out issues surrounding costs associated with the management of Estes Park Health’s retirement plan.
The Park Hospital District must notify all employees who participated in the 457(b) and 401(k) retirement plans—including some former employees who had not worked at the hospital for more than 20 years—that the plans are being terminated.
In addition to the notification process, the closure of the plans required compliance with Internal Revenue Service regulations and other legal requirements. Those costs are now expected to exceed the $50,000 originally budgeted for management fees based on the number of active accounts remaining in the plans.
A revised funding allocation is expected to be discussed and approved on Wednesday, following additional financial negotiations with UCHealth.
According to the district’s bylaws, new board officers must also be elected at the spring meeting. Current officers are Cory Workman, chair; Alper, vice chair; Janet Zeschin, Secretary, and Brigitte Foust, treasurer. Tom Leigh, the fifth member of the board, serves as an at-large director.
Click here to review the agenda and the complete 64-page board packet in advance of the meeting.