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Hospital board establishes Request for Proposal
for Management Contract
Published:
Claiborne Progress
Wednesday,
June 3, 2009
by Andrea
Schneider
In a reconvened meeting, the Claiborne County Hospital
Board finalized and approved their Request for Proposal packet which
provides instructions and guidelines for those parties interested in
submitting a proposal for the management contract with Claiborne County
Hospital.
The hospital board recessed their May 19 meeting to allow board members to
review a sample Request for Proposal packet drafted by Rob Asbury and
reconvened on May 26 to develop the finalized packet.
The Request for Proposal packet is a set of guidelines developed by the
board for interested entities to follow when developing their management
contract proposals to present to the board. The board felt these guidelines
would be the best way to inform interested parties of their desires
regarding the management of the hospital.
During the meeting board members discussed things they felt were important
to include in the proposal packet. Mike Robertson said he felt it was
important for the proposal packet to ask for information regarding the
entity’s work with rural hospitals. Another suggestion was that the
management entity should have effective and open communication with the
board at all times. Betsy Shoffner suggested adding something to protect the
current employees of the hospital. She felt that since the hospital was one
of the biggest employers in the county it would be best to keep the
employees best interest in mind. Other minor additions were made to Asbury’s
draft.
After discussing the changes Asbury and Mary Smith, Administrative Assistant
for the hospital, made the additions to the document and presented it to the
board for final review. After reviewing the document the board approved the
Request for Proposal and designated Smith as the contact person for all
interested parties.
The board also decided to advertise a notice in the local newspapers and the
Knoxville News Sentinel informing all interested parties that the hospital
was searching for a management contract and that all interested parties
should contact Smith for a Request for Proposal packet. The notice will run
twice in each paper.
Tazewell Mayor Ezell Cox and Tazewell Alderman Wayne Jessie both attended
the meeting. At the end of the meeting Jessie asked County Mayor Joe Tyler
Duncan why the commission voted against the contract with Mercy Health
Partners saying “if you get that many people to vote the same way there has
to be a reason.”
Mayor Duncan simply replied that the commissioners wanted a chance to
“compare apples to apples” and felt the hospital board should hear from some
other parties before making a decision.
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