I heard that at the meeting of the Somervell County Commissioner's Court this morning Judge Maynard said next week at the budget hearings that they will be addressing Somervell County canceling the lease with Glen Rose Medical Foundation and taking back over the GRMC (I presume the nursing home, too, since the property et al owned by the county, although it isn't clear to me that legally a county CAN own a nursing home).

Some questions I have. Is this the first time this has come up or has this been discussed in open meetings previously? If so, which meeting? The last I heard there was going to be a second attempt next year to get the hospital district passed (failed this year) but they aren't waiting that long? (because it would probably fail again?) If the lease (one dollar per year) with the GRMF is canceled, what happens to the money that GRMF was obligated to pay back to cover the 14.5 million dollar CO? It's not that we didn't get a hike in property taxes to cover it, but at least with the GRMF it was supposed to be paid back by GRMF, not by US. Looks like WE would be on the hook entirely for this, in the same way we would have been for the hospital district. Also, if Somervell County takes the running back over, who would actually run the hospital and nursing home? Would these be put out for a bid? Or would a board decide to let the running go to a pal?

About the only thing that is good about this is that the GRMC would be public in every way, owned by us as taxpayers, with completely open records at every level. So that if there was someone that was trying to keep someone off public property, he or she can't do it, and because it would no longer be a private not-for-profit 5013c running it, all monies could be accounted for.

On the nursing home. The 10th court of appeals, in a lawsuit regarding Somervell County, said

Although in the alleged order of the Commissioners Court, attached to the plea to the jurisdiction, the commissioners called the entity they created a “Health Care Authority,” there is no reference in the statutes to that term. Instead, what the commissioners created, according to the express language in the order, is a “hospital authority” under chapter 264. The term “Health Care Authority” is part of the name of the entity the commissioners created. However, by express statutory prohibition, a county hospital authority may not own and operate a nursing home.

  Marks’s affidavit states that the authority was created in 1993, which is after chapters 223 and 264 replaced former articles that did not exclude nursing homes from the types of projects a hospital authority could be involved in. Tex.R. Civ. Stat. Ann. arts. 4437e-2(g), 4494r § 2 (Vernon 1976). Therefore, the county cannot claim that when it created the authority, it could legally own and operate a nursing home.

Does this still apply? The county owns the land and property of the nursing home. Glen Rose Medical Foundation ALSO includes the nursing home. Would they still operate it?

Update: Here's that audio snip from Judge Maynard.