Memorial Medical Center in Port Lavaca offers a number of medical services to the Calhoun òòò½ÊÓƵ community and residents of neighboring areas, recording over 100,000 patient encounters per year.
The center was recently listed as at-risk of closing due to its financial state and the current landscape of rural health in Texas, according to a Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform study.
In the upcoming May 3 election, Calhoun òòò½ÊÓƵ residents will vote on the potential creation of a hospital district. If passed, the vote would allow Memorial Medical Center to operate as its own entity, to be governed by an elected board serving without compensation, and to collect tax revenue.
There are more than 140 hospital districts in Texas, existing in 55 percent of state counties. Memorial Medical Center would be able to set a property tax rate and collect funds to support the financial needs its operations require. The ballot will ask voters to approve a tax rate not to exceed 40 cents per $100 of taxable property, but the hospitalòòò½ÊÓƵ™s current board intends to begin with a tax rate of 10 cents per $100 of taxable property.
òòò½ÊÓƵœItòòò½ÊÓƵ™s imperative we keep this hospital open and growing, not shutting down, because the hospitals around us canòòò½ÊÓƵ™t handle the [increased] volume of patients if weòòò½ÊÓƵ™re not there to provide services,òòò½ÊÓƵ Erin Clevenger, Memorial Medical Center CEO, said. òòò½ÊÓƵœMost hospitals, including the Victoria hospitals, are feeling the staffing crisis. [Theyòòò½ÊÓƵ™re seeing] more patients, sicker patients and a lot of times when we need to transfer somebody, they donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t have the capacity.òòò½ÊÓƵ
Industry in the county would fund approximately 60 percent of the estimated $6.8 million collected if voters pass the creation of a hospital district, Clevenger said. Memorial Medical Center does not receive any tax revenue from Calhoun òòò½ÊÓƵ other than reimbursements for indigent care. The hospital received less than $4,000 in 2024 for indigent care.
òòò½ÊÓƵœAccess to healthcare services is critical to good health,òòò½ÊÓƵ Clevenger said. òòò½ÊÓƵœA lot of people can drive to Victoria for their health care, but a lot wonòòò½ÊÓƵ™t or donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t have time. If you donòòò½ÊÓƵ™t have primary care in your town, having to take off work or take your kids out of school is going to lead people to seek less health care.òòò½ÊÓƵ
Memorial Medical Center is a nonprofit county hospital and has been operating for 75 years. It opened its doors in April 1950. It became a critical access hospital in 2004, an important financial designation given by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to rural hospitals who meet specific requirements.
The hospital must have no more than 25 inpatient acute beds, keep patients less than four days on average and have a 24/7 emergency room.
The hospital is a Level 4 trauma designated facility, a crucial designation due to the level of industry in the area, Clevenger said. Memorial Medical Center admitted 1,100 inpatients and had nearly 10,000 emergency room visits last year.
òòò½ÊÓƵœThe problem is rural hospitals are at risk,òòò½ÊÓƵ Clevenger said. òòò½ÊÓƵœHospitals are closing around the nationòòò½ÊÓƵ“declining reimbursementòòò½ÊÓƵ“shrinking population, which is not happening in Calhoun òòò½ÊÓƵòòò½ÊÓƵ“and swelling uncompensated care. More people do have insurance plans, but their deductibles are getting higher and higher, and they just canòòò½ÊÓƵ™t pay.òòò½ÊÓƵ
Commented