Commission approves four-bed hospital 12/11/08 Alice DuPont Email this story to a friend Gadsden County commissioners voted Tuesday night during their regular meeting to approve a four-bed hospital with the stipulation to add a minimum of five beds for the next five years if the funds are available. The additions can only be stopped if four of the five commisisoners chose to do so based on the financial health of the county. The vote brings Gadsden Community Hospital to the 25-bed limit that voters approved Aug. 26. Commissioners, knowing that they must beat a June 21 deadline to retain the license to operate GCH, also terminated the contract with Ajax Construction Company. The board voted to enter into an emergency open bidding process. The deadline for the bids is noon on Dec. 19. While the bidding will be open to all, only Ajax Construction and Childress Construction are expected to put in bids. Both companies told commissioners that they could meet the June deadline. Childress was awarded the bid several months ago as the low bidder with a $6.5 million bid. However, a few days later, former county manager Marlon Brown awarded the bid to Ajax, saying they are a local company because they have offices in Midway. The location of the company was not a part of the bid specifications. Ajax's bid for the renovation was $9.75 million. Attorneys for Ajax and Childress argued on behalf of their clients. However, commissioners made it clear that it was their decison. "Every one of you are here because you're going to make money off the citizens of Gadsden County. It is our duty to see that the citizens get the best products," said Commissioner Doug Croley. Earlier in the evening, commissioners invited representatives from the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration to clear up any misconceptions on what the agency requires for the county to retain its license and open for business. If the hospital cannot be completed by the June 21 deadline, James McLemore, AHCA health services and facilities consultant supervisor, said the state currently has a fast track program that the county could take advantage of and possibly have a certificate of need leading to a new license in less than a year. The county could start that process as early as February of next year and if the June deadline is missed, a parallel process would have already begun. The county would also continue to pursue the process of seeking an extension for the license through the Legislature during the 2009 session. Craig McMillian, chairman of the Gadsden Hospital Inc. Board of Directors, reported to commissioners hat the hospital board wishes to have its own attorney, separate from that of the county commission.. For the past two years the GHI board has been utilizing the services of Paul Sexton, who is part of the law firm that represents the county commission. Two weeks ago, the contract with the firm was terminated and its service will no longer be available within a few months. "We feel we need continuity. We don't need to change attorneys when you change attorneys," McMillian said. Commissioners voted to allow the hiring of an independent attorney, not to exceed $28,000 annually. The Hospital Trust Fund and how it is to be administered has members of the GHI members wondering how, exactly, the fund can be used. "The trust document says the GHI board should have full control of the trust, but the trust has been amended. We feel that the document itself should be the guiding document. The intent of the document should guide who is in control," McMillian said. The board also approved a press release for general distribution to reassure citizens that the GHI and the commission are working closely and in harmony to get the hospital open. McMillian said there is confusion in the community and that citizens have been misinformed. "The public thinks we're that we're trying to slow the process or stonewall it and that's not the truth," McMillian said. The GHI board also recommended that the medical community become more closely involved in the opening of the hospital. He said that through the entire process of getting the hospital reopened, the medical community has not been consulted. The GHI recommended that commissioners approve the rural emergency with five beds and take the advice of the Agency for Healthcare Administration to open with limited beds and add more in the years to come. "We've been operating under false premises. We were told that we had to have 25 beds and we've found out that it's not true," McMillian said.