By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
During the Aug. 28 meeting of the Guthrie County Hospital Board of Trustees, CEO Chris Stipe explained that groundbreaking for the hospital’s planned major construction/expansion plan will likely be delayed until the spring of 2026. He explained the delay is due to waiting for official approval from the Office of General Counsel (OGC).
“Because we’re pushing the larger project start date to March, we could go ahead and build the conference center. The reason we would do that is to avoid having trailers (during the larger project). We were going to have the primary care clinic in a trailer,” Stipe said.
Stipe said the conference center could be built over the fall/winter, and that space could then be used instead of trailers during the larger project.
“Instead of moving the clinic into a trailer, we would move the clinic into the conference center, and it would be a temporary clinic while we were doing phase one of the construction,” Stipe said.
The trustees voted in favor of a resolution to seek bids, not to exceed $2 million, for the conference center. The board retains the option of rejecting any or all bids.
Stipe also said the hospital plans to schedule “town hall” meetings to share information with the public regarding the hospital’s construction project.
“If there’s a lot of interest, maybe we’ll do more,” he said.
Chief Financial Officer Brandon Johnson provided a monthly report on finances. He reported on the expected impact of the newly enacted “Big Beautiful Bill” on the Guthrie County Hospital. Johnson said there are two scenarios based on how the measures in the bill are implemented. Johnson said the expected impact is that the hospital would lose out on either $3 million or half a million dollars over a five-year span.
Stipe explained the timing of the bill’s impact on the hospital.
“Both of these scenarios are five-year scenarios that start in 2028 and end in 2033, so you’ve got a five-year impact,” he said.
Foundation Director Dennis Flanery said the hospital with be hosting a 5K run/walk event on Oct. 4 along with a health fair.
Because of holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas), the dates on the board’s November and December meetings were changed. The November meeting was set for Monday, Dec. 1 and the December meeting was set for Monday, Dec. 29.
The board went into special closed session to discuss two matters.
The next regular meeting of the trustees is set for Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. The public is welcome.