PINEDALE — A breakdown between members of the Board of Sublette County Commissioners, the Sublette County Hospital District (SCHD) Board of Trustees and administration, and Sublette County Public Health means residents will have to wait even longer to receive care at the highly anticipated critical access hospital (CAH), the long-term care facility and the new public health offices. Following a 90-minute executive session called by the commissioners during their regular June 3 meeting, SCHD board chairwoman Tonia Hoffman announced the decision to delay the grand opening — from July 1 to August 4 — in response to the county commissioners pulling $2.6 million in funding. “Any further delays could create costly concerns for us,” Hoffman said Tuesday.
Folks anticipating a new, private room in the Heritage Home, a space for a loved one in the memory care unit, a job at the new facility or the ability to have an MRI done close to home will just have to wait while local elected officials work out their different perspectives.

‘Breached’ contract

At the May 20 meeting, the commissioners emerged from a lengthy executive session and voted 4-1 to withhold $2,664,205 in funds from the SCHD without any discussion. SCHD interim CEO Gregory Brickner cautioned the board at that time, explaining that withholding the money would put the hospital in a perilous position and would likely result in a rippling of negative repercussions. Commissioners Doug Vickrey, Sam White, chairman Lynn Bernard and Dave Stephens voted in favor of withholding the payment, while commissioner Mack Bradley cast the single dissenting vote.
On June 3, the commissioners justified their decision to withhold the funds by accusing the SCHD of “breaching” the terms of the transfer agreement with the county, specifically regarding the SCHD’s obligation to secure a new facility for public health. “From a contractural standpoint, when I look over the (2022) transfer agreement, the county has lived up to their side of the agreement. There’s still some pieces in here that the hospital district has not,” said commissioner Vickrey during the June 3 meeting, admitting that he had only just read the document despite serving on the board at the time the commission signed off on it in September 2022. “There’s gonna be some assurances that our public health facility is in place. I don’t think that’s too much to ask because that’s what the contract dictates,” Vickrey added.

In fact, the contract states that the SCHD will relocate Sublette County Public Health from its temporary location to a new location meeting specific standards set forth by the agency “no later than 200 calendar days from the completion date.” This means the SCHD is obligated to find a permanent home for public health no later than mid-January 2026. The contract also provides a remedy in the event the SCHD fails to “relocate public health into its permanent location within the time allotted,” requiring the district to “pay the county $1,000 per day until public health is able to resume providing services in its permanent location.”

The agreement also states that in the event the SCHD is not able to provide a space, the district “shall pay to county liquidated damages in an amount necessary for county to construct a space that meets suitable space requirements …”
A footnote at the bottom of page 3 of the 12-page document indicates the SCHD would be on the hook for roughly $3 million “in addition to relocation expenses, site preparation, parking lot, landscaping, and real estate acquisition if necessary/applicable.”

“We are entitled to 180 days post-opening of the hospital to have this hammered out so I would just like to say publicly that there has been no ‘breach’ on the part of the hospital district,” Hoffman said Tuesday.

The document acknowledges that “time is of the essence” as it pertains to a permanent location for public health, with the parties agreeing in writing that “the determination of the ultimate location of public health shall be made in an expeditious manner and in no case later than the Hospital Completion Date (as shown on the certificate of occupancy for the hospital and long-term care facility).”

Although the initial inspections took place on May 20 and the CAH achieved “substantial completion” on May 23, the Heritage Home is not projected for a “substantial completion” designation until June 27, meaning the certificate of occupancy has not been issued.

Where the problems lie

Referencing a previous meeting during which representatives from the SCHD indicated to the county reps that a permanent facility for public health could be achieved around January-March 2026 “if funds permit,” commissioner Stephens said, “I don’t believe the first quarter of 2026 is acceptable.” Stephens added the temporary facility housing public health is “half of the size of what’s been requested, the doors don’t work properly, the windows don’t work properly, this spring the raw sewage was coming up in the bathrooms when the water table come up.”

“Work orders for all those issues were recorded and resolved within 24 hours, except for two instances that needed parts ordered, so I think some of the things you are hearing aren’t entirely true,” Hoffman responded.

Chairman Bernard said, “I have a list prepared by the public health nurse of things that have not been completed. They say you send someone over and they say, ‘Yeah, we'll take care of it,’ and they never come back, so obviously a miscommunication is occurring — quite possibly among all parties.”

Hoffman also perceived a different version of events from the prior meeting with county reps. “When we left the meeting with the county attorney and public health, I believe our intent was sorely misrepresented to the county commission. The plan was that we would be asked to attend the June 3 meeting and to please come with plans for public health; which we would have had two weeks to prepare. We have full intent to live up to the terms of the agreement.”

Hoffman said hospital board members and administrators were shocked when the commission voted days later to pull the funding and felt they had to respond defensively to “an obvious threat to our financial state and to construction that’s 90% complete.”

“You should have had to have your arm twisted and that’s what we’ve done here. Boy, we’ve got some attention,” Vickrey said.

He added, “I’ve got a string of emails here (from upset constituents) … you would think we’re going to create havoc with the healthcare system here in Sublette County. No, we haven’t. We’re not going to allow that to happen … You will get your money at some point.”

Location considerations

Hoffman presented the commissioners with four ways the SCHD could fulfill the needs of public health. “The first option is to utilize the current facility and accommodate spacial requirements by supplementing with space at the current Sublette Center building after the Heritage Home reopens and residents are relocated,” she said.

The second option, Hoffman explained, is to “utilize a separate and complete space within the existing Sublette Center to create a permanent home that would meet spacial requirements.”

Another potential solution is to utilize the space at the current Pinedale Clinic, but this was previously explored and deemed undesirable by public health, according to Hoffman.

The SCHD could provide a permanent location for public health in a separate building currently being used as a private business rental, Hoffman concluded. “It does meet the spacial requirements and would require minimal renovation.”

Requirements

A two-page attachment to the contract lays out public health’s requirements for 6,000 square feet of usable space to house six offices, three patient care rooms, two ADA-compliant restrooms, refrigerated storage space, a reception area, an 800-square-foot work room and two conference rooms “no less than 1,000 and 600 square feet respectively.”

The document also sets forth requirements for parking, storage, information technology, electrical, and plumbing accommodations.

It also ensures that the “Public Health team be involved in the creation of the layout/design with an architect provided by the Hospital District.”

Next steps

With those options in mind, the commissioners adjourned into an executive session to receive legal advice and emerged more than 90 minutes later with chairman Bernard announcing, “We have come to an agreement to meet with the hospital board at the next meeting next week … of course, we will negotiate out an exchange of assets of some nature for the check of $2.6 million and some change.”

That meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at 5 p.m. at the Marbleton Town Hall and is open to the public.

Disappointment, frustration

Addressing the commissioners during public comment on Tuesday, Ken Konicek expressed disappointment, saying, “I’m just so frustrated that the adults in the room can’t get this right. You just said you’ll give them the money eventually. Why don’t you do it today instead of waiting until next Wednesday? … What the heck? Can’t you guys sit down and get this fixed?”

Louann Heydt begged the commissioners, “Please reconsider this and reconsider it today because (withholding the funds) really serves no purpose.”

Commissioner White explained, “We like the four options given to us. We’d like to discuss some of the sideboards that could come with those options. We are going to advertise that meeting and make it a public meeting, which grants us the authority to make a decision at next week’s meeting.”

Sharon Ziegler told the commissioners, “It feels to the two-thirds of us who voted for the hospital that you’re making a punishment for something that hasn’t happened yet.”

Speaking to the commissioners, former county attorney Mike Crosson criticized the SCHD’s lack of transparency, “You go to the (SCHD) meetings and they go into executive session to discuss the things they don’t want you to hear. …They talk about all this stuff somewhere other than the meetings about the financial woes they obviously have and then all of a sudden they show up at the commissioner meeting crying that if you don’t give them more money it’s going to ruin the county.”

Dr. Erin Hastey told the commissioners, “It feels like we are pitting different public agencies who all want the best things for this county against each other.”
She requested Sublette County Public Health send nurse manager Janna Lee to the June 11 meeting so “we can ensure that public health and the hospital district are aligned and working for the health of everybody in this county.”

A complete copy of the 2022 transfer agreement is available by clicking here.