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Show j0iOTpBaiiraHiltadl ft mM piw&V hospS-ffoB sole n,up opposed to the hospital sale ;a complaint in the 4th District -in Uintah County last Thursday H-ind the sale of the Uintah County ', to Hospital Corporation of icalHCA). fen Vernal residents who claim ,rable damage as citizens and er of Uintah County are named Stiffs in the complaint, .'complaint contends that the vance of the land and hospital to (in violation of Utah Code which s a public entity from lending Mo a private organization, ie voluntary conveyance by ilantsof said land and hospital to Bl Corporation of America for -ion amounts to a donation or an ;ion of credit to said Haspital -ration of America in the amount scess of from $600,000 to $1.1 xi, which is the difference between jual value of the land and hospital .5 to $5 million plus..." says the :Saint. y fair market value of the :.:al is our only dispute," said ney Paul James Toscano, anting the group. "There will e to be a factual hearing to deter-e deter-e the fair market value. We nate it is $4.5 to $5 million, " m said. :; complaint also contends that the ! the hospital is not in the public st. "The sell to an entirely private t making corporation will probably escalate health care cost which isn't in the public interest" Toscano said. Toscano mentioned that control over quality care in the hospital was lost with its sell to HCA. "The free market is the only control over quality care in a private corporation, but it isn't effective ef-fective in a monopoly where HCA owns the only hospital," Toscano said about the sale. "I don't think HCA represents the quality care they say they do," said Dr Denis J. Winder, plaintiff in the complaint. com-plaint. "HCA's educational rehabilitation program is limited." Winder also said that indigent care costs would be much greated under HCA that it would for a nonprofit organization. The selling of the hospital without retiring the bond, by which it was build, or retiring the bonding with the proceeds has also caused irreparable damage to these plaintiffs as citizens and taxpayers of Uintah . County, contends the complaint. One million dollars from the sale will be used to construct a nursing home -$2.5 million was deposited with Deseret Federal Savings and Loans for one year at 15.75 percent interest; $1 million was deposited with American Savings and Loan for 90 days at 17.75 percent interest in-terest and $400,000 also went to American Savings for 60 days at 17.75 percent interest. The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs have in several interviews with the defendant presented information in-formation to the county commission and demanded steps be taken to prevent the sale of the hospital for any price less than the fair market value of the land and the hospital, but said defendant have refused. Named as plaintiffs in the complaint are Dr. D. J. Winder, Sheila Lind, Marva Voorhies, Isabelle Green, Mark Anderson, Diane Anderson, Lucille Johnson, Elbert Balse, Oka Balse, Olive Hacking, Marge Murray, Pearl Shaffer, Clayton Southam, Jerile Southam and Margaret Francke. Defendants are Uintah County Commissioners Roland Merkley, Neal H. Domgaard and Merrill B. Mecham. Besides requesting the sale' of the hospital be nullified, the complaint requests Writ of Mandamus requiring the defendant to act legally in future negotiations, costs of suit, attorney fee, any relief the court may deem. "The complaint doesn't question the right of the county to sell the hospital, if it is done legally," Toscano said. Although the group has recently filed to incorporate as a non-profit organization, the complaint wasn't entered as a corporation because incorporation in-corporation procedures were not finalized. . The county has 20 days to reply to the suit. |
