Dayton Deputy Law Director John Musto said the 10-year property tax levy could generate roughly $19 million during its life, with tax collection beginning in 2027. This won’t be enough to cover the costs of construction, let alone the equipment needed for the hospital.
And other factors serve as challenges to a future hospital: planned cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the nurse shortage. But the levy could go before voters another time for renewal, Musto said.
“The hospital envisioned by this ordinance is a large, general-purpose hospital,” Musto said.
This facility is supposed to include a level two trauma center, ICU, a birthing center, pediatric emergency center, a mental health center, a pulmonology, orthopedic surgery center, cardiology center, neonatal care, physical therapy, and a diagnostic laboratory and imaging center.
Musto on Wednesday said under Ohio law and the hospital levy ordinance, Dayton city commissioners have two recommended options: contracting with a nonprofit or creating a mayor-run board to oversee the planning and execution of a hospital.
Allowing a nonprofit to construct or lease and manage a public hospital would require a city contract. Under state law, Dayton voters would need to approve this contract as a ballot issue, Musto said.
The second option would involve the creation of an 11-member hospital governing board, with Dayton’s mayor as the chairperson of the board. This board would be responsible for the entire management and control of the hospital once it’s built, according to Musto.
Credit: TY GREENLEES / STAFF
Credit: TY GREENLEES / STAFF
The board would need to include representatives of community organizations, health care or hospital collective bargaining units, and architecture. Board members would also need to include representatives from Human Relations Council, Planning and Neighborhood Development and the city’s finance department.
Also appointed to the board would be a member of the public who has never been employed in the administration of a health care facility.
The Clergy Community Coalition worked for years to get a public hospital levy measure on the ballot in Dayton. Members have decried Premier Health’s decision to close Good Samaritan hospital in northwest Dayton, saying the city can help fill that void.
Clergy Community Coalition President Bishop Richard Cox told this news outlet that the commission does not need to partner with a nonprofit for this process. He said the commission should follow state law, specifically Section 749.04 of the Ohio Revised Code, and assemble a board of hospital commissioners.
“They need to follow the plan that the law dictates that the mayor is responsible for the hospital board, and they need to let her pick her own board,” Cox said. “They need to follow the law. Let the mayor pick her own boards, and she is the chairman of the board, and let it go with that.”
Musto recommended the city commission hold public hearings to gather the community’s perspective on how the hospital should be administered — city commissioners agreed. He recommended a hearing in late spring to allow citizens time to provide written comments, if they wish.
“The initiative said it could be done in stages, and obviously, it has to be feasible to be able to be done. They can’t put something in the ordinance that is impossible to obtain,” Musto said. “We’d have to learn from the public what priorities they want and use those limited resources.”
The levy will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $35 per year. Supporters of the tax said the measure intends to bring a full-service hospital to a section of the city that has been a health care desert since the closure of Good Samaritan Hospital in 2018. The levy’s critics said it won’t generate enough in its 10-year cycle to construct and operate a medical facility.
Dayton City Commissioner Chris Shaw asked if money generated from the property tax levy has to be spent in 10 years. Musto said no, but the taxes collected must be used for a public hospital.
Shaw said a pediatric urgent care that’s being built in West Dayton is a project that will likely exceed $20 million.
“Would we be living up to the language of the levy if we went with something less than an urgent care, and call that a hospital?” Shaw said.
“We would be providing medical services, and if that’s the financial reality, there’s no additional funds, we’d do the best we could,” Musto said.
Cox said the taxes gathered through the levy were never intended to fully fund a new facility: the levy will create “seed money” to be used to attract other funding opportunities.
“Some people are saying, well, $2 million is not enough. We never said it was enough,” Cox said. “We said that was seed money. The board is responsible for getting other entities to put into the pot to make this hospital a reality. And that can happen, but they got to cooperate with the mayor, and they’ve got to do it correctly.”
Staff Writer Cornelius Frolik contributed to this report.
About the Author
