DAYTON—Columbia County Health System officials have been concerned about the financial health of Dayton General Hospital, the Waitsburg Clinic, Columbia Family Clinic and the Booker Rest Home, because of the high costs associated with preparing for a possible surge in patient care due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their concerns were reported in the Times on Apr 2.

A special emergency meeting of the Health System Board of Directors took place on Wednesday, April 8. The purpose of the meeting was to approve a request from the health system administrators and finance team to allow them the flexibility to seek and secure various financing options to provide the health system with financial stability.

Finance Manager Matt Minor said some money from the federal government’s two trillion-dollar stimulus package will be granted to the Health System without expectation of repayment.

“At this point we can’t count on getting enough from those programs to make us whole from this situation,” he explained.

Minor said it is crucial to be able to move quickly to secure funding for some of the programs such as the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program. That program has a limited amount of funding, and applications are on a first come, first serve basis, he said.

CEO Shane McGuire said he is not allowed to indebt the Health System or the Public Hospital District without Board approval. His goal is to make sure there is some flexibility and latitude to pick and choose from various financing options. Those options could include some form of low interest rate loan, no interest rate loan, or grant.

The Board of Directors adopted a resolution allowing the administrators and finance team to pursue grants and loans, as they deem necessary. The specifics of every grant or loan pursued will be presented to the Board for their approval.

The aggregate loan balance is not to exceed five million dollars. This authority will automatically terminate on Oct. 9, 2020, unless terminated earlier or extended by a resolution of the Board.