Voters to decide on hospital tax renewal

Quay County voters will decide in the Nov. 7 election whether to continue a longstanding sales-tax subsidy for Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari.

The ballot issue would renew a one-eighth-cent gross receipts tax that would be used for the hospital’s operations and maintenance. The tax generates about $200,000 a year for the hospital and its primary care clinics in Tucumcari and Logan.

Vickie Gutierrez, administrator and chief nurse executive at Trigg, said examples of equipment purchased with the sales tax are a new ultrasound machine, a new bone-density scanner and a new cardiac/telemetry monitoring system.

Gutierrez said county voters first approved the tax in 1987 and that renewing it will not raise tax rates.

“Across the country, rural hospitals are experiencing many challenges,” she stated in an email. “At Dr. Dan C. Trigg Memorial Hospital, we want to stay viable and continue to provide the care that our community needs -- from our emergency department to services like primary care, home health, hospice, lab, radiology, therapy services, pulmonary rehabilitation and our new speech therapy program.”

Five years ago, about 80% of county voters approved the continuance of the sales tax.

“We appreciate the trust and confidence that our community members place in our team every day when they seek medical care in our hospital and clinics,” Gutierrez stated. “Our community has voted to support hospital and clinic services since 1987.

“I think our residents understand just how important it is to keep healthcare services close to home, and that voting to renew helps us keep these services here when they need them.”

Trigg Memorial Hospital is operated by Presbyterian Healthcare Services. Trigg remains one of the largest private employers in the county, providing more than 70 jobs. It also is the only 24-hour emergency department between Amarillo and Albuquerque staffed by an on-site physician.

Early voting for the election began Tuesday and will continue on Monday through Thursday this month from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Quay County Clerk’s Office and on the Friday and Saturday before Election Day.