Archive for Friday, July 24, 2009

VNA plans in limbo

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The Northwest Colorado Visiting Nurse Association may buy its portion of the current The Memorial Hospital campus, or the whole facility or none at all, said Cole White, VNA director of operations.

The VNA has a lot of things it wants to do, he said, but what happens depends on available money.

At a workshop Thursday with its attorney, two members of the Moffat County Commission discussed the ongoing process between the county, hospital, VNA and other local nonprofits about what to do with the current hospital on Russell Street after TMH moves to its new building on the west side of Craig.

Commissioner Audrey Danner said she received an e-mail this week from VNA board member Mary Brown that stated the VNA is looking at buying only its portion of the hospital facility.

"It's a constantly shifting process," Danner said. "As the facts change about what money is available - for instance, there was no stimulus money at first, and now there is stimulus money - the situation with everyone changes."

The VNA and TMH boards plan to meet Wednesday at their separate monthly meetings, and the commissioners said they would attend each one to stay on top of the matter.

The VNA is involved in four projects surrounding its facility and the possible acquisition of the hospital campus.

First, the VNA was part of the Moffat County Human Service Partnership, a group of 15 local health and human service organizations that received about $85,000 in federal recovery funds earlier this summer.

The coalition will use the money to study how the hospital building could benefit the community and what costs would be involved in its renovation and purchase.

Second, VNA officials announced June 30 that the organization received about $300,000 in federal recovery funds on its own to renovate its main floor and basement level.

White said the hope is to expand clinical space and move administration offices downstairs.

The VNA also hopes to get two more grants in the future.

One is a prospective federal recovery allocation that would pay for a second story addition to its current facility, and the other is a grant request made to the Colorado Health Foundation, which would be for actual property acquisition.

Whether the VNA uses Health Foundation dollars to buy only its facility or other parts of the hospital campus depends on whether it's approved and for how much, White said.

He added that the Health Foundation may provide some word by early August on whether it will approve the grant allocation.

Collin Smith can be reached at 875-1794 or cesmith@craigdailypress.com.

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