Commissioner claims board was corrupted

Once again, the state of the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County came up during the Sweetwater County Commissioners meeting last week.

During the commissioner’s comments portion of the meeting, Commissioner John Kolb gave the board an update on the hospital. Kolb acts as a liaison between the commissioners and the hospital board.

Kolb said he is happy with out things with the new board is going, but he wanted to reiterate what this board has to overcome.

“We had good people on that board, but over time they were corrupted,” Kolb said about the previous board.

He said they started to think like a hospital and not for what’s best for the members of Sweetwater County, which is who they were representing on that board.

“Jerry Klein was the biggest micromanager I’ve ever seen,” Kolb said. “They weren’t allowed to do anything.”

“A lot of things were done up there that were just insane,” Kolb said.

For Sweetwater County residents keeping that hospital up and running is a top priority.

Commissioner Randy Wendling said he was glad to see the hospital moving from a management-lead organization to a leadership organization.

“It’s great. It’s really refreshing to see it moving in that direction,” Wendling said.

Commissioner Don Van Matre said he is confident in the new slate of board members and believes they are moving in the right direction.

The hospital continues to improve its days of cash on hand and is now at 103 days, which is a measurement of the hospital’s reserves.

“That hospital has always been a No. 1 priority,” Van Matre said.

Castle Rock Ambulance

According to Kolb, the county’s ambulance board is moving forward with allowing Castle Rock Ambulance to become part of the regular transport rotation, which differs from the general 911 call rotation. Castle Rock Ambulance will need to meet and comply with all regulations and this will allow them to transport patients to Salt Lake City.

Patients who prefer Castle Rock Ambulance Service for their transfer can still request their ambulance.

 

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