The Richmond City Council, at their regular meeting on December 30, 1997, voted 4-0 in favor of a resolution to join the hospital district.
The resolution to join the PAHCS district will be published in the city's official newspaper, the Cold Spring Record, sometime this February, according to Richmond City Attorney Tom Wenner. There is a 40-day waiting period after the publishing date for residents of the city of Richmond to respond with their wishes regarding the issue. If no objections are heard from the residents, the resolution will stand and special legislation at the state level will be needed, because the city of Richmond is not contiguous to any part of the current hospital district.
Discussions between the Richmond City Council and PAHCS staff and doctors have taken place over the past two years about the status of the clinic building, which is too small for the current patient load. Discussions have included the possibility of the city of Richmond joining the district.
In other business. . .
•Troy Stang and Cheryl Fuchs, representing the Paynesville Office of the Melrose Credit Union, gave a presentation to the board for the purpose of becoming the bank of record for PAHCS. The presentation included electronic payroll depositing, interest on checking accounts, coverage of warrants, and a line of credit for checking accounts.
The hospital has had the Farmers and Merchants State Bank as its bank of record since the early 1960s. The board voted to table the decision on the official bank of record at this time and to invite all three financial institutions in Paynesville to make proposals. Plans are to do this at the next meeting on February 18, 1998.
•The board accepted the recommendation of the medical staff to grant a six-month extension to the provisional period of medical staff privileges for Eric Bailey, O.D. and Burt Dubow, O.D. These optometrists have not seen any patients in the Paynesville Area Hospital since they were initially granted provisional status in 1994. The board also decided that, in the future, re-application for medical staff privileges will carry a $150 fee. Initial application will still be free.
•Elected officers for the Board of Directors. They are Don Thomes, chairperson; Doug Ruhland, vice chairperson; Diane Rothstein, clerk, and Carolyn Swyter, treasurer.