Hospital District In Jeopardy Petition Seeks Vote To Dissolve East Shoshone Hospital District

A move to dissolve the East Shoshone Hospital District is one step closer to a vote.

The move could ultimately lead to a merger of Shoshone County’s two hospitals.

Jon Ruggles, who drafted a petition calling for a hearing on the issue, turned in 453 qualified signatures to Shoshone County commissioners last week. He needed 359.

“I could have gotten more. It shows people were more than willing to sign,” said Ruggles, who collected all of the signatures himself over a period of 16 days.

The commissioners have scheduled a hearing for April 11 at 10 a.m. in the county courthouse. After public comment, they will decide whether the issue should appear on the ballot in May.

Ruggles envisions a merger of the east and west hospital districts. Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg and Silver Valley Medical Center (formerly Henry L. Day Hospital) in Silverton are 10 miles apart.

“It’s time to put the east-west rivalry behind us and move into the next century,” Ruggles said. “If we put all our eggs in one basket, we could create something substantially better than two mediocre facilities.”

If a vote to dissolve the East Shoshone Hospital District were to pass, the district’s assets and liabilities would become the county’s to dispose of. Some longtime residents see the possible dismantling of the system as a waste of a long-term investment, said Silver Valley Medical Center administrator Bill Sexton.

“People have worked hard to re-establish the hospital. It was no easy task. But it’s well-equipped, in good condition, and we’ve been busier than we expected. We feel it’s viable,” Sexton said.

He added history shows that hospital mergers don’t always save money.

“The advantage of having two hospitals is the same as having two grocery stores or two gas stations. It helps to keep costs down and a competitive environment in place,” he said.

Sexton believes that Shoshone County’s population is large enough to support two hospitals. But Jerry Cobb, a board member for the West Shoshone Hospital District, has his doubts.

“They wouldn’t have closed if it worked. To me, it’s that simple,” Cobb said. But he said West Shoshone leaders have decided to withdraw from the debate.

“We just want to focus on expanding services and building a system that will stand the test of time. And it’s working. For example, we used to deliver three or four babies a year. This year, we’ll deliver more than a hundred,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate that the health care system is split, but in the Valley, everything is split - fire, water, school districts—they’re all split between the east and the west. And that will continue until people decide they want something different,” Cobb said.