[Editor's Note: This is part three of a multi-part series of articles on the work session of July 14 and the regular session July 16, 2020. This article begins the Thursday regular session. To read about the work session discussions, visit http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/59062-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-071420 and http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/59098-grant-county-commission-holds-work-session-071420-part-2 ]

By Mary Alice Murphy

District 1 Commissioner and Chairman Chris Ponce began the Grant County Commission regular meeting on Thursday, July 16, 2020 by noting that the executive session held at the end of the work session was limited to items on the agenda and no action was taken.

He then introduced Gila Regional Medical Center Interim Chief Executive Officer Scott Manis to give the monthly hospital report.

Manis said a number of things are going on. "The hospital governing board signed a management agreement with HealthTechS3. We've been working earnestly evaluating the hospital overall on how to increase overall growth. We are addressing three things: 1) volume growth, 2) revenue enhancement making sure we're getting paid for the services we provide and collecting those payments and 3) looking for cost reduction opportunities, both contractual and labor. The plan will be reviewed by HealthTechS3 and presented to the governing board in the near future."

"As you know my initial commitment here was for three months, which will end July 31, my last day," Manis said. "HealthTechS3 has identified Scott Landrum to be the Interim CEO. It will be an easy switch out from Scott to Scott. We will have about a week overlap to hand off. I want to thank the county commission and the community for the warm welcome and for the things we've begun. I'm sad I won't be here to watch the process, but I will be following it. I know this hospital is on the road to success for this county and community."

He went on to report that Chief Financial Officer Richard Stokes had left the organization. "His last day was last week. HealthTechS3 has chosen Dick Alesch to replace him as interim CFO. He's been on board since Tuesday, July 14, so we're still going easy on him. He is ramping up fast."

"I want to highlight some activities and good news to let you know we're on the right course," Manis continued. "Effective July 1, we got the critical access designation, which we knew we had, and yesterday we received the certificate that will be posted in the lobby. That will be a game changer for the organization overall. We are on track for the Rural Health Clinic designation. We expect the virtual survey within the next couple of weeks. We have everything in place to be ready. It will be an enhancement for the Family Health Clinic. And the third thing I want to mention is our Trauma Level 4, which the hospital has been working on for about 2½ years. No later than end of day tomorrow, we will submit the application to the state Department of Health. We expect the survey within the next few months and everything will be in place for that survey."

Manis said GRMC has initiated a telepsychiatric service primarily in the Emergency Room a week ago on July 8. "We've had no real hiccups, and it has been well received by the ER staff. It is a mechanism to provide immediate telepsychiatric consults to determine whether an individual needs to be hospitalized or can be safely discharged. Starting Aug. 1, we will be using the telepyschiatric service 100 percent. Right now, it's a blended program with the person who had signed on for some hours."

He said he has been in a lot of conversations with CEO Dan Otero at Hidalgo Medical Services. "We've been in close communication around the family medicine program, which we've been a critical part of for many years. We will continue to work on how we can work together. I reached out to Silver Schools and Western New Mexico University on how their plans to reopen will potentially impact us and how we can support them. We are also reaching out to Cobre Schools. We are making sure we're communicating, so we all know who to contact."

Manis said the Community Paramedicine Program is working well. "I wanted to give you a story. A 47-year-old male who has a lot of fears around health care had had 12 visits by EMS to the hospital in six months and six visits on his own to the Emergency Department in the recent past. It took nine times to get it scheduled for people to visit with him because he was afraid they were going to hurt him. On the initial visit, they spent 1½ hours with the patient on concerns. It led to increased involvement with other state and local agencies. It has helped him overall. We received positive feedback from the patient, who is now an advocate for the program and has recommended the program to a couple of others. His mother, who doesn't live here, has also thanked us."

He announced that Dr. Lawrence Gibson, a general surgeon, has joined the hospital. "He's very experienced. He comes from Illinois and is super happy to be here. He already has a few patients, primarily through the emergency department. I look forward to a positive reception of him from the community. He is seeking to join the community and grow a business here."

"From a COVID standpoint, we have kept reaching out and kept reaching out to the state. With a low population and a low incidence of COVID, we did not qualify to receive Remdesivir, which is used for intervention on patients with mild to moderate symptoms. We kept reaching out and the pharmacy director was persistently persistent, and we finally got a confirmation that we will have some of the last free doses. After that, we will have to pay for them, but it's good news that they will arrive early next week."

A blood drive was held at Harvest Church, July 15-17. Because of the low blood supply around the country, he encouraged people to donate blood.

On the financial front, Manis reported that for the month of May, the hospital had about $1.8 million in patient revenue and about $5 million in other revenue, including about $4.6 million in Medicare stimulus, with operating expenses of about $6.2 million, leaving an excess for the month at $221,000. "That's why HealthTechS3 is working on the management plan. We have a hurdle to overcome. Year-to-date, we have a loss of $11.9 million, right at $12 million. But I want to remind you that $6.2 million is posted on the expense side and is showing as unrecognized revenue of the Payment Protection Program. Once that's forgiven, it will look better, but still not positive for the year. It's not quite as bad as it looks, but it's not great."

No one had questions, so Ponce moved on to public input, which was received by email.

County Executive Assistant Taysha Walter read the public input statements.

A letter from John and Nancy Wachholz, wildlife photographers, thanked the commissioners for taking the side against M44s to save pets and wildlife. The letter noted that leg snares also kill animals, and they stated the only non-killing way is with cage traps. "You have shown an open mind."

Patty Reed said she hoped, as leaders, the commissioners take visible efforts to slow the spread of COVID. She said it is not a hoax to encourage masks, and to stay away from groups larger than four and at a six-foot distance apart. She asked them to take a leadership role.

Matthew James, chief deputy assessor, said the prospect of opening the building was of great concern to him. He said the assessors' office has refined almost all transactions to being done virtually, and noted since June 30, the department had seen an increase in activities done online. He said in light of the data, even discussing opening the building is premature until the county is below the gating criteria.

Glen Griffin asked that the commissioners mandate that the Wildlife Services reports show locations of where services were provided. He alleged the Freeport ranches were No. 1 for services and questioned if that was why the locations were not being reported. He called it "whack-a-trap" with changes from M44s to no traps and back again. He said he was excited to see a guard dog being used on cattle in the Burros. He alleged the Soil and Water Conservation District wants cattle on every corner of the Gila. And he thanked the commission for putting non-lethal practices in the agreement with Wildlife Services.

The first elected official to give a report was Treasurer Steve Armendariz. He thanked his staff for working under trying circumstances. "We took in $109,000 in taxes in the last month. For the year, we have taken in $29.72 million from all sources. That's $4.5-5 million more than last year. We notify those who are delinquent and may be reported to the state for sale. We sent out 497 notices and had to report 116 properties compared to 169 last year, so we collected on more than half and continue to collect over the phone and with online receipts. People are still confused with our website change from .com to .gov, which happened right after we sent out tax bills. We get calls and walk them through the process of paying online."

Armendariz said he was apprehensive about opening the building. "We've continued to be able to collect, but it's up to you. If it is opened, we will lock our door and have a sign on the front that people can call to make an appointment. One suggestion is if you decide to open, keep only the sliding doors open, so no one has to touch the doors coming in or out."

He noted the gross receipts for May were $99,000, about $2,000 more than last year.

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne asked what accounted for the increase of $3 million over the prior year. Armendariz said it might have been because of increases in tax rate mills in the Mining District, but then said it might be the federal payment in lieu of taxes (PILT), because last year's came in July and this year's in June, so there were two payments to Grant County in the just-finished fiscal year.

Undersheriff Jess Watkins gave the sheriff's report. Numbers included a higher rate of domestic violence calls with 24, 198 traffic stops, 3 larcenies, 1 aggravated burglary, 9 Game and Fish calls and 36 welfare checks, with people worried about their loved ones. The department worked 8 accidents without injuries and one with injuries. In the Mining District most of the calls were self-initiated. He said narcotics seizures were down, probably because officers were being more proactive making people be more cautious. He noted the busiest days and hours of the week seemed to be from 4-6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. The department has been doing a lot of training. Three new hires graduated from the academy and are finishing field training.

Ponce thanked the deputies for doing more patrols on Kirkland Road.

Commissioners then began the agenda action items.

They approved Planning and Community Development Director Michael "Mischa" Larisch as the certifying official for Community Development Block Grants.

Commissioners appointed Don White and Gilbert Helton to the Shooting Range Advisory Board but noted that the third applicant was also qualified, and they thanked all applicants for applying.

The engineering plans for Bataan Memorial Park were approved.

The ICIP (Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan) was also approved, with No. 1 being ADA improvements to the Cliff Fairgrounds; No. 2 the Gila Community Park; No. 3 Grant County Administration Center security improvements; No. 4 reconstruction of Airport Mesa, Cemetery and Iron Bridge roads; and No. 5 as county vehicle fleet replacement.

District 2 Commissioner Javier "Harvey" Salas asked if the county was going to get its capital outlay this year.

Webb replied that all but the trails were secured in the June severance bond sales and the trails should be part of the December bond sale. She said the ADA for the Fairgrounds had been swept from the General operating funds, but the bond items, Bataan Memorial Park, the CAD for dispatch and the fleet would be good once the county receives the agreements.

The next article will begin with a long discussion on whether to open the county building sooner rather than later and should be the final article in the series.