Tax rate to fall as St. Luke begins renovation
Staff writer
Hospital district taxes should decrease next year even though work on a $6 million renovation St. Luke Hospital is scheduled to begin next week.
At the St. Luke Hospital Board of Directors meeting Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Armstrong said that he will be accepting bids for ground work on the hospital construction project and electrical and engineering contracts Friday.
He said construction should begin the following week.
The board approved a tax budget draft for the Aug. 16 tax budget hearing.
The draft includes a decrease in mill levy from 12 to 11.94. The hospital is expected to bring in $654,274 in taxes.
Frank Albert gave an update on the capital campaign. The campaign has raised $810,000.
Armstrong said in his financial report that the hospital made $7,397 in July and $48,500 for the year. He said the number is about $78,000 below budget.
“It’s just been slow,” he said. “Out patient has been a lot slower this year than last year.”
In other business:
- Appointments for courtesy privileges and credentials were approved for pathologist David MacKenzie and orthopedic surgeon Michael Yost.
- An amended contract from Quorum Health Resources was approved to be handed to hospital lawyers for a final review. QHR is a management company that employs Armstrong and Chief Financial Officer Bev Reid.
- An employee benefits package was tabled until next month’s meeting. The board was waiting for information from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
- A contract with Kansas University Locum Tenens was approved for renewal. Locum Tenens is a service which posts times available to University of Kansas residency students in Kansas City and Wichita to work in the St. Luke emergency room on a week day. Although the hospital has had a contract the program for a year, it has yet to be used.
- Linda Kannady announced two new nurses joined the hospital staff. They were going through orientation Tuesday.