YADKINVILLE
Yadkin County Commissioners moved closer to getting out of the hospital business Monday, unanimously passing a resolution seeking offers to buy Hoots Memorial Hospital.
The county will receive proposals from prospective buyers through Jan. 6.
County officials have identified 16 health-care groups that could potentially be in the market for a hospital the size of Hoots, including HMC/CAH Consolidated Inc.
HCM/CAH, based in Kansas City, took over management of the hospital April 1 after a contract with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center expired.
Gordon Docking, chief operating officer of Kansas-City-based HMC-CAH, said the company will put in a proposal for the hospital.
"We will pursue this process," he said. "We think there's good potential."
Docking said the hospital fits in with the company's business plan for critical-access hospitals, a federal designation for hospitals with up to 25 beds serving rural communities.
County commissioners will hold a public hearing on the resolution of intent to sell or lease the hospital at their Nov. 2 meeting.
Commission chairman Chad Wagoner said hearings are usually held before resolutions are voted upon, but in this case the county had to act according to state statutes on the sale of hospitals.
He said commissioners would listen with an open mind to whatever citizens had to say at the hearing.
Under the approved resolution, the county is not obligated to sell the hospital if it doesn't get an offer the commissioners like, said John Crill, an attorney working on behalf of the county on the potential sale of the hospital.
Docking said if HCM/CAH is successful in their bid, they would look to build a replacement hospital.
"When we acquire a hospital like Hoots, it is always with the intention to build a new facility," he said.
The company is looking at other properties but has not settled on a site he said. The company would not build at the current Hoots site, he said.
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