Agenda Packets - 2017/01/23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council January 9, 2017 Regular Meeting Page 2 services that would be offered at Unity in 2017. She thanked the Council for their time and 1 stated she was looking forward to being a continued engaging partner to the community. 2 3 City Administrator Ericson asked if new employees would be hired or lost through the changes 4 being proposed at both hospitals. Ms. Criger explained the proposed plans would allow the 5 hospitals to enhance the services provided which would lead to a growth in jobs. 6 7 Mayor Mueller commented she had heard of the hospital campuses merging last summer. She 8 questioned why the hospital had not been more transparent with the public regarding their plans. 9 Ms. Criger stated Unity and Mercy have been under the Allina umbrella for the past decade. She 10 reported the recent changes to the mother/baby consolidation happened fairly quickly and this led 11 to a reevaluation of the programs offered at both campuses. 12 13 Council Member Gunn inquired if the clinic services would change. Ms. Criger reported the 14 clinic services would not be changing. 15 16 Mayor Mueller explained she has a close family member that has utilized the emergency services 17 at Unity on a regular basis and she wanted to see this continue as much as possible. Ms. Criger 18 stated emergency services would continue at Unity for the time being. 19 20 Linda Hamilton, 7856 Monroe Street in Spring Lake Park, noted she was the Director of the 21 North Suburban Hospital Board. She asked how many beds would be added for mental health at 22 Unity. Ms. Criger stated no beds would be added, but rather all mental health patients would 23 receive private rooms. 24 25 Bridget Lundquist, 2849 Bronson Drive, explained she is the newly elected North Suburban 26 Hospital Board member for Mounds View. She reported Allina would be requesting the Council 27 dissolve the hospital board. She believed Allina had not been very transparent in their actions. 28 She expressed frustration with how services would be switching between the two campuses. She 29 had concerns with the time that it would take people in emergency situations to reach Mercy 30 from the Unity service area. 31 32 Council Member Gunn referred to an article regarding the hospitals in the Sun Focus from 33 January and encouraged the public to review this article. 34 35 Council Member Meehlhause understood that three communities have voted in favor to dissolve 36 the hospital board. He believed this meant the hospital board was therefore dissolved. He stated 37 the City Council had no jurisdiction or authority over the taxing of the hospital district. 38 39 Ms. Lundquist understood this may be the case, however, she encouraged Mounds View to hold 40 a public meeting in order to raise awareness of the situation. 41 42 Mayor Mueller inquired if the hospital board meetings were open to the public. Ms. Lundquist 43 reported this was the case. She stated the next meeting would be held on Wednesday, January 44 11th at 6:30 p.m at Unity Hospital. 45