Funds OK'd for Trigg

Quay County commissioners authorized routine tax fund allocations of $500,000 to fund operations for Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital in 2017.

Vince DiFranco, who has added the Trigg administrator role to his administrator duties at Plains Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Clovis, formally requested the allocations from the commission on Monday during the commission meeting.

Commissioners approved allocations of $250,000 each in February and May.

DiFranco also addressed concerns of commissioners about the impact of sharing an administrator with PRMC.

District II Commissioner Mike Cherry said he was concerned because a previous attempt at combining administrators had been unsuccessful.

DiFranco said he was aware of the concerns, and he intends to spend one day a week at Trigg Hospital whenever possible.

In addition, he said, “I can continue to work for Trigg Hospital in Clovis.”

District III Commissioner Sue Dowell echoed Cherry’s concerns and added that some long-time Trigg employees had informed her “all was not well” at Trigg.

County tax allocations, she added, are “a lot of money, especially for a poor community.”

DiFranco said he has had two meetings with Trigg department managers to learn about existing issues.

“I hope we can resolve those within the organization, so they don’t have to come to you,” he said.

A major goal, DiFranco said, is to recruit professional medical staff for Trigg.

The hospital, he said, has contracted with a nurse practitioner for three or four months, but he has also sent a direct-mail solicitation to 6,000 practitioners and is working with a physician recruitment firm, the Shumacher Group of Lafayette, Louisiana, to assist in attracting medical staff candidates.

He said he also wants to improve the depth of professional staff at PRMC that can be shared with Trigg.

“Emergency room services will be a strength here,” he said, referring to Trigg.

District III Commissioner Franklin McCasland asked that DiFranco visit the commission regularly to report on progress.

“I don’t want to be here just to ask for money,” said DiFranco. “I want to keep you informed. That’s the way I want it, too.”