Issues

Somervell County Hospital District
The hospital district was created in May of 2013 by a 2 vote margin. A group of folks including Paul Harper followed the Texas Health and Safety Code and created a petition for an election for dissolution of the district. Our goal was to eliminate the new entity and turn it back over to the County who owned it before the district was created.

After acquiring over 900+ signatures over a 6 month span, we turned that petition into the hospital district. The hospital district hired a high-dollar law firm from Austin to deal with the petition and they found that over 200 of the signatures did not have a city listed (the County was listed on all of them). We had two choices at that point, we could sue becuase the Texas Supreme Court had already ruled on a similar case in favor of the petitioner, or we could try again. We chose to try again instead of spending taxpayer dollars on lawyers; then the year ended. That matters because part of the petition dissolution process was the fact that we would turn it back over to the County upon dissolution since they owned it before the hospital district creation. The key here is that they still had the tax revenue last year to cover it, now they don't, so it doesn't make sense to dissolve the hospital district and turn it back over to the County. It makes more sense to put people on the board who will do what the people want, and that is to eliminate that new property tax along with ceasing operations outside the district including in Hood County at Pecan Plantation.

There is a private exclusive gated community in Hood County called Pecan Plantation. Through Glen Rose Medical Center, we the taxpayers in Somervell County are funding the Pecan Plantation clinic while Somervell County residents are not allowed to even see the building, let alone use the facilities. You will hear 'some' say Pecan Plantation makes a profit for the medical center, yet when you ask for the data to prove it they say it isn't seperated out like that. If this place was making a profit then why did we initiate the property tax?  The Glen Rose Medical Center staffs that clinic, loans equipment to it, and spends money keeping it updated. The purpose of a hospital district is to benefit the members OF the district (Somervell County in this case). The problem with operating in Hood County in a gated community is that is does NOT benefit the members of the district (Somervell County residents) and therefore should not be in operation under the Glen Rose Medical Center.

The 501a slush fund is the account that is used to fund operations in Hood County. Funds are moved to this account from the general fund when the 'account is low' without a paper trail instead of when the funds have been requested and approved. This procedure needs to end and have requests and approvals for all funds being spent.

 The hospital should be able to run within its means, not on the back of the taxpayers. The tax, which would be higher had we the petitioners not gotten involved when we did, is currently 10.5 cents. Remember that three people who are on the ballot voted already to make it 12.5 cents, what do you think they will do if elected? Taxing the citizens is not the route we should be taking, we should be following Hood County's lead and enter into an agreement with a 3rd party. Hood County has a hospital district but charges no hospital district tax.

The people running the hospital are there because of WHO they know and not WHAT they know, this needs to be changed starting at the top!