Mayor: UCH Deal Could Be “Amazing.”
Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said Wednesday that the proposal to lease Memorial to University of Colorado Health could be “amazing” as he thanked members of City Council for their work on the hospital issue. He offered special praise to Jan Martin, City Council president pro tem, who has worked on the Memorial ownership and governance issue for more than two years and led the RFP process.
The mayor’s remarks Wednesday kicked off what will become monthly meetings between the mayor and City Council to discuss key issues facing the city. Although Memorial was only briefly discussed during the hour and a half meeting, this appeared to be the first public meeting in which the mayor voiced his support for the recommended proposal. The mayor does not have operational oversight over Memorial under the city charter, but he would likely be called upon to sign the lease with UCH and support it politically.
City Councilman Merv Bennett used the opportunity to clarify for the public that he and City Councilwoman Brandy Williams are liaisons to the negotiating team, but they are not part of the negotiating team that will work with UCH on details of the lease agreement. Bennett said his role and Brandy’s will be to “ensure communications are flowing” among the negotiating team, City Council and the mayor. The negotiating team, led by City Attorney Chris Melcher, will be composed primarily of lawyers. Those negotiations will be confidential.
The UCH proposal (read more about it here) won unanimous support from the task force that handled the RFP, as well as from City Council itself. It’s also garnered support from key business and community leaders, as well as many staff members and physicians.
Exactly when negotiations might wrap up and a measure might go to the ballot is unknown. Also in question is whether a ballot measure would face opposition from losing bidders. HCA/HealthONE publicly voiced its disappointment in the decision and left open the possibility that it might pursue additional action. In a Dec. 19 statement, HCA/HealthONE’s President and CEO Jeff Dorsey said: “We will continue to have an interest in Memorial’s future. The City Council and Colorado Springs voters will have the final say.”
Related posts:
Recent Comments