Junction City Commissioners are scheduled to receive a presentation Tuesday night from the Chair of the Geary Community Hospital Board of Trustees, Theresa Bramlage, about the pending transition of the hospital to Stormont Vail Regional Health on Jan.1.
Geary Community officials are trying to raise money for GCH until the transition is complete. The amount requested from the City could be up to $3 million with the money coming from American Recovery Program Act funding provided to the City.
City Manager Allen Dinkel informed commissioners in a memo that there is no doubt that a hospital in the community is vital to the growth and future of Junction City. The City does have the ARPA funds but has not spent any of it. Some local governmental entities such as Geary County have already spent a portion of their ARPA funds. The City has some concern about use of their ARPA funding in this manner but will continue to explore that option.
Dinkel feels more information is needed from the County since there will be a number of financial matters they must consider during the transition, and since the county will continue to own the hospital building, and be liable for certain expenses.
Dinkel added that he feels that it must be remembered that Junction City is in Geary County, and has about 67% of the population living there. Approximately 70% of the property tax dollars received by the County are paid by owners of property within the City.
According to the memo the ARPA funds are not part of the City's traditional budget, but how they are spent will have a major impact on the City's budget for this year and subsequent years.
The staff recommendation going to the Commission is that no financial support be committed by the City until more research is done by Geary County to identify issues and the financial impact of doing so is discovered.