Commissioners to meet with special attorney in July
When commissioners arrived for their meeting Monday, May 16, they were met with a room full of St. Luke’s Hospital officials and residents wanting the county to support the hospital’s efforts to gain financing for a $6.5 million expansion.
Hospital administrators officially requested the county deed to the hospital 14.13 acres of county-owned land and the hospital building.
“We’re not asking the county to cover us,” said St. Luke’s CEO Ken Shull. “We’re only asking for the property return.”
Shull said the hospital needs to own the property in order to obtain financing for the expansion. Shull also suggested that the county include in the documents that ownership of the land and building must be retained by a Polk County-based non-profit organization.
Although it wasn’t a public hearing, 14 residents spoke in favor of the county deeding the property.
The county has hired an attorney from Raleigh, John Crill with Parker Poe, who specializes in hospital financing. Crill will advise the county about the options the county has regarding the request. Extensive research is expected to be required, because governments generally must bid out property before selling or otherwise disposing of it.
Polk County Manager Ryan Whitson recommended commissioners hold a closed session video conference meeting with Crill sometime in July, after the adoption of the 2011-2012 budget. The county is paying Crill $395 per hour for his services and will likely interact through satellite most times to avoid paying travel expenses.
Shull presented details on the history of the relationship between the county and St. Luke’s and said he wanted to clear up some “misconceptions.” Shull said the hospital is owned by St. Luke’s Healthcare, Inc. under the direction of a board of trustees, “who live in and around Polk County.”
St. Luke’s pays a management fee to Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) for assistance with insurance and purchasing contracts, access to resources and numerous other benefits a small community hospital could not afford, Shull said.
“CHS has no ownership interest, no financial investment and no governance over our board of trustees,” Shull said. “Our board of trustees has total autonomy and complete control managing St. Luke’s Hospital.”
St. Luke’s provided $5 million in uncompensated and charity care and community benefit last year, according to Shull. The hospital is Polk County’s largest private employer, with 230 full-time employees and a $14 million payroll, Shull said. St. Luke’s also maintains the hospital, having spent $970,000 last year in operational costs for a building that, including depreciation, is currently valued at $47,000, Shull said.
Shull also went through the history of the hospital, which began in 1928 when a private, not-for-profit corporation was formed. In 1929, the 25-bed hospital on Carolina Drive in Tryon opened.
County commissioners approved a bond issue to pay for $1.5 million toward a new hospital at its current location in Columbus. The total cost for the new hospital was $3.1 million, with the remaining $1.6 million being raised by federal funds, charitable donations and community supporters.
In 1969, with $20,000, Shull said, St. Luke’s Auxiliary purchased 40 acres of land on Hwy. 108. The organization donated  14.13 acres to the county for the purpose of building the new hospital. In exchange, Shull said, the county was given the former hospital building, or what is known today as the Jervey-Palmer building, which housed county offices for almost 40 years.
The new, 75-bed hospital opened in 1972.
Commissioner chair Ray Gasperson said in 1968 approximately 1,700 Polk County residents voted in favor of the bond and a few more than 1,200 residents voted against the bond. Gasperson said this was at a time when the county’s budget was a little over $500,000.
“They were faced with the same dilemma,” Gasperson said, “with replacing a 40-year-old hospital, and now here we are again. I know however this comes out it will be a partnership.”
Gasperson also said in today’s terms, comparing the costs of the hospital built in 1972 with the county’s current budget, building a new hospital would cost between $70 million and $75 million.
Residents praise St. Luke’s
The 14 residents who spoke Monday ranged from Tryon Estates residents who said having the hospital so close was one of their reasons for moving to Polk County to others who said St. Luke’s saved their lives.
Deborah Arledge said last year she had a total knee replacement by Dr. Brian Rosenberg and she never had a question that the staff couldn’t answer. She also spoke of how it was hard to maneuver in the small rooms. She had two blood clots in her lungs and the staff decided to do a scan and found a mass in her breast that was missed in an earlier mammogram.
“St. Luke’s actually saved my life,” said Arledge. “If they hadn’t done that chest CT scan, I never would have known. I have nothing but good words for the hospital and Dr. Rosenberg.”
Jean Shumway said she spent her whole life in healthcare and the building is “fighting the doctors and nurses.”
“The Jervey Palmer building is now unfit for occupancy,” said Shumway. “This will happen to the hospital if we turn our backs on what we know we should be doing.”
Shumway said she often hears that the county is being asked to “give” the hospital away and that’s a strange way to look at it since it has always been a partnership. The current building was built because of a shared responsibility, Shumway said. She asked commissioners for their support in building the future of St. Luke’s.
Jim Barnett said he has been with the hospital for ¾ of its existence in Columbus and has seen very little physical expansion. He mentioned local doctors over the years who dedicated their lives to this community, including Dr. William Bosien, who performed more than 30,000 surgical procedures at St. Luke’s. The doctors all “truly believed the patient came first,” Barnett said, and he said St. Luke’s has unbelievable nurses.
“The ones who are no longer with us would roll over in their proverbial graves if they knew there were roadblocks,” Barnett said.
Hospital expansion plans
The hospital needs to own the property, Shull said, so that it can be used as an asset to finance the expansion.
The addition would be 15,000 square feet, including six orthopedic beds and a home for the hospital’s outpatient rehabilitation services, which currently are located off-campus. The addition, which would be constructed on the left side of the current hospital, is being designed so that a second level could be constructed later, with plans for another 19 patient rooms.
Part of the $6.5 million expansion is also a geriatric courtyard on the right side of the building.
The hospital already has $1 million toward the expansion costs and is planning to raise 1/3 of the total $6.5 million, according to Shull.
Shull said the county doesn’t deserve to continue to have a “state-of-the-art” 1972 hospital. He said the hospital does not meet modern codes or ADA standards and there are half baths that he has to enter sideways. The expansion is to expand the orthopedic department, which Shull called the hospital’s “shining star.”
“If we don’t move forward, it puts us behind the eight ball,” Shull said.
Commissioner Owens said he’s probably the only commissioner who voted for the $1.5 million bond and he thinks the hospital should always be here and he will do whatever he can to make sure it is. He expressed concern over how the hospital asked the county for the deed and said the issue has gotten bad publicity. Owens said the public has heard many different rumors and a good sales job needs to be done to the community and the county.
“We all need to overcome the shortfalls we have against us,” said Owens. “I feel like there’s a lot of work to be done. We got this thing started off wrong.”
Pack said he doesn’t think there’s anyone on the board opposed to St. Luke’s. Commissioners just need to figure out how to make it happen, Pack said.
Gasperson said that’s why the county has retained attorney Crill.
“St. Luke’s is vital to the future of Polk County,” Gasperson said. “Not only because of healthcare, but St. Luke’s is a huge economic engine in this county. I’m sure we will find the means.”

St. Luke’s Hospital history
1928    A private, not-for-profit corporation was formed and St. Luke’s Hospital was born.
1929    A 25-bed hospital on Carolina Drive (in Tryon) opened, with 230 patients being treated in the first year.
1935    St. Luke’s Association was formed to seek financial support; businesses pledged $1 per month to St. Luke’s.
1948    St. Luke’s Hospital Auxiliary was formed with 15 women to can vegetables, sew and cook for patients.
1950-66    Rapid growth with numerous expansion efforts.
1966    N.C. Medical Care Commission declared St. Luke’s Hospital unsafe for any more additions. Plans were discussed for a new hospital.
1968    A bond issue was approved by county commissioners to raise $1.5 million for a new hospital.
1969    With $20,000, St. Luke’s Auxiliary purchased 40 acres of land on Hwy. 108 and of that acreage, donated 14.13
acres of hospital land to Polk County for the distinct purpose of building a hospital.
1970    A groundbreaking ceremony was held and construction began on the $3.1 million, state-of-the-art hospital.
Federal funds, charitable donations and community supporters raised the remaining $1.6 million.
1972    A new, 75-bed hospital opened with great fanfare, with dignitaries and the high school band.
Source: PowerPoint presentation made by St. Luke’s CEO Ken Shull to Polk County commissioners on Monday, May 16.