On Tuesday of this week the Junction City Commission decided not to provide funding to support Geary Community Hospital due to lack of city funds. But since then the stance may be changing.
Mayor Jeff Underhill explained the request for $6.5 million in operating funds for this year was too much and the City was not able to help at that level. But he noted that he and County Commissioner Alex Tyson as well as County Finance Officer Tami Robison and City Manager Allen Dinkel have been working on this issue. "We think that we've found a solution where the City can help out with some of the shared services that we do such as EMS, and then also we are able to use a little bit of money from our budget and help out financially with a little bit of a shortfall."
Underhill confirmed that a final dollar amount for the assistance has not yet been determined and staff is still conducting some negotiations, "some repayment tools and that sort of thing but we think we have a solution that will get the hospital through."
County and hospital officials have estimated approximately $6.5 million is needed for operating expenses for the hospital this year to get GCH to a partnership with Stormont Vail Health on Jan. 1.