Four years ago Bourbon County handed over significant taxpayer resources to Legacy Healthcare Foundation. This donation was the former Mercy hospital campus and $2 million. The agreement included a list of conditions all designed to make sure the massive donation was used in ways that benefit the taxpayer and ensure that Bourbon County would continue to have access to healthcare.
Some of the requirements imposed on Legacy Healthcare Foundation in return for the donation:
- The $2 million can only be spent in three ways: building maintenance, operating costs including “development of an Acute Care Hospital,” and reduced rent for tenants providing “a legitimate community benefit.”
- Proof of backing at closing — either a Bourbon County property purchase over $300,000, or a line of credit secured by a lending institution for $2 million or more.
- Insurance naming the county — the recipient “shall have the Donor as a secondary insured” against wind, rain, tornado and fire.
- An EMS transaction by Jan. 1, 2023. This came with a firm date, and the donation agreement only says it would involve “an agreed upon subsidy”.
- Parcels can be transferred, but only where “the general purpose is for the development of these parcels for Bourbon County, Kansas.”
Whether the terms of the agreement have been met or not isn’t entirely clear. If $2 million was spent on building maintenance, it seems odd that the roof would be left to leak buckets of water every time it rains like some of the employees in the building claim is happening. Did Legacy spend the $2 million on maintenance and simply prioritize things other than the roof?
Several parcels have been transferred to Legacy Development Fort Scott Highway 69 Project, presumably meeting the terms of the agreement but that entity has unpaid taxes on that land clear back to 2023.
Since the agreement didn’t include any reporting requirement, it is up to the county commissioners to verify that the taxpayers are getting what they were promised in exchange for the building and cash.
If the terms aren’t met, the agreement gives the county one remedy: unwind the deal, take the property back, plus a refund of the cash donation that shrinks every year: $1 million, then $750,000, then $500,000. After the fifth year, in the agreement’s own words, “Donor will have no remedies.”
We are somewhere in year four. The agreement never says exactly when the clock started, but it becomes more urgent each day.
The commissioners owe it to the taxpayers to make sure this massive donation of taxpayer resources is not squandered. If the commissioners have all done their due diligence, looked into it, and believe the terms have all been met, then they need to state that plainly, show how all the terms have indeed been satisfied, and then move on to other matters. If Legacy hasn’t met the terms, then they need to make sure that the taxpayers don’t throw away what was originally a $45 million building project along with $2 million of cash and end up with a water-damaged, unmaintained building that has no hope of housing any of the healthcare services this county needs.
The worst thing the commissioners could do is to decide they can’t be bothered to see if the terms have been met until it is too late to do anything about it.
Mark Shead
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