Hospital Board postpones tax increase

On Monday, August 19 the Trinity Memorial Hospital board met with members of the community to discuss the upcoming tax rate and what was needed to open an emergency department at the Trinity hospital. Several people spoke against a tax increase, pointing out that Trinity County is a poor county and raising taxes would be devastating to many on a fixed income. Others expressed concern that an emergency depart might not sustain itself.

A few people stated that an emergency department would enhance the health care of the county because of the needs of our many retirees, school-age children, the large camping population, construction workers, and a large amount of traffic moving through Trinity. Some were willing to cut back on personal expenses or other purchases for the ability to have the services on hand when needed instead of a thirty minutes trip elsewhere.

Chi St. Lukes, who is in the process of a merger that will make them one of the largest groups in the country, requested that Trinity waits until next year to move forward on an emergency department. The board agreed that by waiting until next year, once the merger is complete, they would be able to offer a much cheaper plan for an emergency department. Thus, the proposed tax will be the same as last year.

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