RANGELY | In a two hour meeting Thursday, May 23, the Rangely District Hospital board presented its case for requesting a mill levy increase on the November ballot. The hospital district’s current mill levy is 20.99, the highest mill levy assessed by any special district. countywide.
Present for the meeting were Chairman John Payne, Vice-Chairman Jason Kurrasch, Secretary/Treasurer Nathaniel Polley, Directors Stephen Petersburg and Shad Peters. Less than a handful of public citizens—not affiliated with the hospital—attended…
They first should try other ways to bring in money. When I was trying to find a VA approved nursing home for my dad while he healed from his injury, I found out the Rangely nursing home is not VA approved . . . apparently haven’t tried. The Meeker nursing home is approved & at that time has a waiting list of 33. Rangely did not have a waiting list.
Well said Frank.
Frank is 100% right just look at the salaries. That’s absurd!! The threats coming from this board and it’s leadership team should be the biggest red flag in the world to taxpayers in Rangely! True and Strong Leaders ownthe problem they don’t put the blame on others. Right Grace Huitt (aka Frank)
Kiki Bradford. Read this.
I would gladly take a cut in pay if it meant I could stay living in Rangely. I love this little town. My husband, daughter and soon to be son-in-law all work at RDH and would probably have to move if the vote does not go through. We love it here and at RDH and would really hate for that to happen. I moved back here after living near family in the south for a few years, hoping to have my youngest finish school here and to retire here. The problem is, something like cutting the pay of the employees will sadly not solve the threat to our wonderful Critical Access hospital. Most of these problems and threats are not under the bridge. They are current and are what is causing, so far, 106 Critical Access hospitals in the US to close their doors. I encourage the residents of Rangely to please do research on this before you decide on your vote. Also, please sit in on one of the presentations from our board members. It gives insight on the threats against our small hospitals and sheds light on just how the tax increase will effect us (taxes will be less after 5 years). If the vote does not go through I’m afraid Rangely will not survive. We need to fight to keep our hospital in our town. I am a taxpayer and am willing to pay more to keep the hospital and keep our town alive.
The hospital is not making threats. They are stating facts that have been verified with the leading hospital consulting firm in the country.
James Herrera
Fran is right Nick is the biggest problem RDH has. He is not a good CEO.
I. Don’t trust him or any of the higher people. They need new people that know what they are doing to run the hospital.
The health sector, on average, makes up 14% of total employment in rural communities….. like Rangely.Typically, a Critical Access Hospital maintains a payroll of $6.8 million while employing (again on average) 141 people.
According to the American Hospital Association’s January 2017 report it is “estimated that every dollar spent by a hospital supports $2.30 of additional business activity.” This town needs a hospital.
One of the biggest complaints I have heard regarding this issue, is about salaries. Some qualifications needed for becoming a CEO for a hospital include; a masters in relevant field, 15 years experience (5 being in a senior management position). This position isn’t easily obtained, which is why they make good money. This type of position for Grand Junction pays between $284,448- $451,382. For Rural Hospitals, the average CEO salary is 289,500. A CFO’s salary for rural hospital STARTS of at about $117,226, which is 10% below the national average. The CFO is responsible for “all the functions related to the financial operations of a hospital. These responsibilities include the accounting, insurance, financial systems, and auditing of all medical departments (from SpringBoard).” This position, again, doesn’t come without an education and an incredible amount of hard work.
57 rural hospitals in Colorado have been shut down since 2010. I think it says a lot about management and the employees of RDH that we have continued to operate. It’s ludicrous to say that by cutting salaries, we solve the problem. In Rifle (last time I looked) there is a $25,000 sign on bonus to get nurses there. People stay and work in this town because hell it’s Rangely- A Great Place To Live.
If the hospital goes, so does the college. I’ve known numerous high school students that go to college here, I did after high school and went back after 10 years to finish. It will be sad if we don’t have that option for future high school students….to basically get their associates for free. How many more jobs is that if the college goes? How much revenue and community activities are brought in through the hospital and college? Do we really think it’s not worth saving?
I just feel like what this rural hospital has done is incredible. September 5, 2016- The Rio Blanco Times published an article called “Rangely hospital clinic shows value of rural health care”. Rural healthcare problems for this town, have not been hidden.
(http://www.theheraldtimes.com/rangely-hospital-clinic-shows-value-of-rural-health-care/rangely/). Nick Goshe also gave a speech on June 21, 2018 informing the public that rural health care “is dying”. This issue has been voiced to the community. From the amount of times I have seen them talk about it, I believe management is loyal and is tying to give this small town something so many other small towns have lost…healthcare.
I am a single mom of three kids. I’m dreading the possibility that if my child breaks a bone or has an emergency, that I would essentially have to drive an hour to seek care. I’m dreading that a possibility of a life being lost….because if this doesn’t pass, qualified medical professionals will leave.
#iknowmygrammarsucks #saveRDH
The health sector, on average, makes up 14% of total employment in rural communities….. like Rangely. Typically, a Critical Access Hospital maintains a payroll of $6.8 million while employing (again on average) 141 people.
According to the American Hospital Association’s January 2017 report it is “estimated that every dollar spent by a hospital supports $2.30 of additional business activity.” This town needs a hospital.
One of the biggest complaints I have heard regarding this issue, is about salaries. Some qualifications needed for becoming a CEO for a hospital include; a masters in relevant field, 15 years experience (5 being in a senior management position). This position isn’t easily obtained, which is why they make good money. This type of position for Grand Junction pays between $284,448- $451,382. For rural hospitals, the average CEO salary is 289,500. A CFO’s salary for rural hospital STARTS of at about $117,226, which is 10% below the national average. The CFO is responsible for “all the functions related to the financial operations of a hospital. These responsibilities include the accounting, insurance, financial systems, and auditing of all medical departments (from SpringBoard).” This position, again, doesn’t come without an education and an incredible amount of hard work.
97 rural hospitals in Colorado have been shut down since 2010. I think it says a lot about management and the employees of RDH that we have continued to operate. It’s ludicrous to say that by cutting salaries, we solve the problem. In Rifle (last time I looked) there is a $25,000 sign on bonus to get nurses there. People stay and work in this town because hell it’s Rangely- A Great Place To Live.
If the hospital goes, so does the college. I’ve known numerous high school students that go to college here, I did after high school and went back after 10 years to finish. It will be sad if we don’t have that option for future high school students….to basically get their associates for free. How many more jobs is that if the college goes? How much revenue and community activities are brought in through the hospital and college? Do we really think it’s not worth saving?
I just feel like what this rural hospital has done is incredible. September 5, 2016 the Rio Blanco Times published an article called “Rangely hospital clinic shows value of rural health care”. Rural healthcare problems, for this town, have not been hidden.
(http://www.theheraldtimes.com/rangely-hospital-clinic-shows-value-of-rural-health-care/rangely/). Nick Goshe also gave a speech on June 21, 2018 informing the public that rural health care “is dying”. This issue has been voiced to the community. From the amount of times I have seen them talk about it, I believe management is loyal and is tying to give this small town something so many other small towns have lost…healthcare.
I am a single mom of three kids. I’m dreading the possibility that if my child breaks a bone or has an emergency, that I would essentially have to drive an hour to seek care. I’m dreading that a possibility of a life being lost….because if this doesn’t pass, qualified medical professionals will leave.
#iknowmygrammarsucks #saveRDH
I will not. Go to RDH because of the people who run the hospital & the quality of care they give that is given. The is to much nepotism & there is to much gossip coming from this hospital.