by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — Sumner Regional Medical Center board chairman Terry Deschaine told the Wellington City Council Tuesday the hospital is doing some better, but it is still struggling. He noted that a study released last week that listed 31 rural hospitals in Kansas are in danger of closing. While the study intentionally did not list the hospitals publicly, Deschaine said Wellington would be on that list. But he also cited progress made and is still hopefull.

He said many rural hospitals in states that are blocking the expansion of Medicaid are struggling. If it were expanded under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the hospital would be getting between $600,000 and $750,000 more just in Wellington.

He said the state hospital association is pushing a bill that would expand Medicaid, similar to one in Indiana that also has a Republican controlled legislature.

“It answers the objections of our governor to expansion of Medicaid, and we will see what happens” he told the council.

The hospital ended the year by losing $71,000 on paper in December, but that was partially due to some big expenses. Apart from those special items the hospital would have been in the black by about $140,000.

Still they felt they did turn a profit in January but he did not have exact figures.

They are budgeting a profit for the coming year, after having ended 2015 on a down note.

After they lost their surgeon a few months ago, they found surgeons in Wichita that would come down and do procedures. He said that has gone well and one of them is going to start coming down weekly.

“We are still at risk, but we are moving in the right direction,” Deschaine told the council.

In other matters:

•The Wellington City Commission agreed to sell a lot at 814 Settlers Circle in the Settlers Cove area. A question was raised about the intent of the person buying the lot. The motion to approve added the caveat that all city ordinances and zoning restrictions must be followed just in case.

•The Council voted to transfer $35,000 from the general fund to the capital improvement fund for streets. The money had been budgeted for street repairs but was not used because they were having a study done on the streets. City officials felt transferring it would be better as they continue to examine the study and plan for future street repairs.

While no direction was given on exactly how to use the money, council member Kip Etter wondered if it might be a good idea to use it on Ninth Street, leading to the school sports facilities. He said a lot of people use those streets when the come to town for games and it would be a good way for the city to make a positive impression.

Streets supervisor Jeremy Jones said they would continue to study which streets to work on. The study that was done suggests at times working on streets that are not in too bad of condition to keep them from deteriorating, as opposed to just fixing the worst ones first. That would keep the ones that are OK from getting worse. That might also be an option down the road.

The city has budgeted $120,000 for streets for the year.

Council member Jan Korte said since the city paid for the study, it should follow the study’s recommendations.

They did vote to transfer the money, but made no decisions regarding which streets to repair, which will come later.

•The council gave initial approval to the purchase of $4.8 million in utility revenue bonds for the water and sewer systems. Financial advisor John Haas showed them bids from various institutions. He recommended going with the second lowest bidder because of time constraints, and felt the conditions of the market would make the one that was slightly higher a better deal in the long run. He feels they can get better ratings if they act quickly. He will return in March with a final proposal for the council to vote on.

•The council approved changes to the city’s agreement with the Kansas Power Pool which changed how many votes it takes in the pool to pass a measure. It had taken unanimous approval, but now only two thirds of the cities have to agree in order to made a move of any kind.

•The city approved the purchase of  Variable Frequency Drives for the water plant at a cost of $95,000. The city had budgeted $115,000 for the purchase, so they were happy to get a lower bid than expected. This should make the water system more secure and reduce the number of main breaks the city has.

•The City also approved a financial agreement with CornerBank for the purchase of a sprinkler system for the golf course. The council approved the purchase itself at its last meeting. CornerBank will lend the money to the city at 2.6 percent interest. The city had the option of making monthly or yearly payments. They decided to go with the monthly option to save $3,000. If they had went with the yearly option they would not have had a payment due until 2017. The measure passed 4-1 with Jim Valentine voting no.

•The city approved the purchase of an air conditioner for the east side of the administration building for $18,400.

•The council agreed to “charge off” unpaid utility bills totalling $58,000. This is more a bookkeeping matter, getting unpaid bills off the regular books. The city sends out $8 million in bills each year, so the percentage is low. The city also participates in a state program that will take money from state income tax refunds when those people owe utility bills, so the city could get some of the money back.

•The Council scheduled a work session for 5:30 p.m. March 7 at city hall, to talk about yards and code enforcement, and the animal shelter. Council member Kelly Green said she wanted to talk with code enforcement people and others involved with enforcing city rules about yards. She said she has pictures from five years ago from various yards, and many of them are still in the same bad shape they were then.

“I am running out of reasons. I want to see where the broken link is,” she said.

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