Rural hospital leaders ask for sales tax support on upcoming ballots

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Kansas voters head to the polls in just three weeks , and some will be voting on whether to support their local hospitals with tax dollars.

The CEOs of both Logan and Gove County hospitals said the cost of doing business has exploded, while patient hospital bills, owed to the hospitals, still go unpaid, leading to debt. They said education is what they hope will get them a yes vote on this year’s sales tax questions.

Gove County Medical Center is asking for a renewal of a one-cent sales tax, which has existed since 2015. GCMC’s CEO, Conner Fiscarelli, said the last vote in 2021 passed by slim margins.

“One of the biggest barriers to getting this passed is getting that communication out there, helping people understand that it is not a new sales tax,” said Fiscarelli.

He said that if it does not pass, they will lose out on $600-900,000 yearly, forcing them to consider closing their labor and delivery departments.

“We would go from posting a slim loss year to date to posting something that is closer to a million-dollar loss, and it would be very difficult for a rural community like ours to overcome that without some drastic changes in the way we provide health care,” said Fiscarelli.

Logan County Health Services CEO Aimee Zimmerman said the company wants to add a half-cent sales tax to the existing half-cent to help pay for a $44.9 million project to build a new hospital at their existing location. She calls it long overdue.

“We don’t have a dedicated outpatient specialty space, so when we bring in things like cardiology or our pain management group, we put them in our surgery hallway, which means on those days, we can’t do surgery,” said Zimmerman.

The facility would also have more accessible bathrooms for all patients. She, like Gove County’s CEO, believes the biggest challenge is getting voters on board with a tax when people are already counting their dollars.

“Our community tends to want to know where there money is going, and what it’s being paid for, they want the facts, they are naturally a little skeptical of things like this,” said Zimmerman.

A Kansas Hospital Association spokesperson is concerned about a 35% increase in Kansas-based hospital expenses. She said it puts more than 60 hospitals at risk of closing.

“Not being reimbursed for the cost of care they provide, as well as increases to cost in labor and inflation, are really causing a lot of stress on Kansas hospitals. Hospitals are staying open, is because communities are supporting their local hospitals, that community support is essential to keep a hospital open in our case,” said KHA Senior Vice President Cindy Samuelson.

Both hospital leaders said they’ve been pushing community outreach to make voters aware of how the ballot issues affect taxes.

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