Letter: County needs to slow down on plans to sell health care center
To the Editor-
Once again, a few county officials are trying to sell our Portage County Health Care Center.
This time, there is not even a request for proposals from potential buyers, but rather just a unilateral attempt to unload the building and an undisclosed amount of land, and without a public appraisal of the value of that property.
The idea of selling has been suggested as an easy way to deal with the increasing cost of operating a health care center. Now County Executive John Pavelski and Metro Wire columnist Dan Kontos argue this is the only reasonable solution, and that it must be done IMMEDIATELY.
Mr. Kontos wants us to consider “just the cold, hard facts.” Yes, costs have risen unexpectedly since the building referendum passed. This is not surprising, since they operate in an inadequate, out-of-date building. And health care costs are up everywhere, especially with the staffing challenges after COVID.
Unfortunately, the facts that he provides are “cherry-picked” and fail to provide a true picture of the situation.
Consider these facts:
- In two referendums, voters have strongly supported the building of a new, state-of-the-art health care center, fully expecting that facility to be built.
- Marketing studies by Clifton Larson Allen concluded and later confirmed that the PCHCC has a viable future in the new planned facility.
- The main reason for increased building and operational costs is inflation driven by COVID.
- County Executive Pavelski says he runs the county like a business, and he personally does not want the county to provide services such as the PCHCC that are not mandated by law.
- Despite strong public support for the center and its services, Mr. Pavelski has unilaterally led a campaign to sell the building and an undisclosed amount of land where the PCHHC is located, without providing information to the public on the amount of land or its value.
- There has been no open forum for the public to respond to Mr. Pavelski’s plan to sell the building and land, and the attempted sale was timed to pre-empt the long-awaited referendum that would support operating costs so the building process can restart.
Both Mr. Pavelski’s speech and Mr. Kontos’ column ignore these facts. What is their rush? The PCHCC Committee on Nov. 30 did vote to allow the County Executive to continue to explore options to sell, but not to sell until after the April referendum.
Is Mr. Pavelski trying to quickly sell off our health care center before the public can express its wishes in that April referendum? Is he afraid to admit that his manipulation defies the will of the people he was elected to serve?
Portage County voters have supported our health care center for over 100 years. We deserve the right to weigh in on whether that cherished service will continue. Denying voters a voice in this process amounts to acceptance of the rule of one man over the will of the public. We can do better.
Karlene Ferrante
Stevens Point
