The Clark County (Ind.) Council approved a $52 million bond agreement with Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Ind., this week that will allow the hospital to sell bonds for the value of the property and buy them back over time.
The agreement covers two outstanding bond issues totaling $32 million. The remaining $20 million will pay for a healthcare information technology upgrade and provide a hospital reserve fund.
The issue of the $20 million reserve fund almost derailed the vote.
Some council members introduced a motion that would have provided Clark Memorial with $32 million to refinance its outstanding bond payments, minus the reserve fund. That motion failed.
Martin Padgett, president and CEO of Clark Memorial Hospital, told the Jeffersonville Evening News that the extra $20 million is critical because the hospital needs $15 million to finish paying for its healthcare IT system and meet its annual capital budget.
"We actually had approval for a $20 million loan in 2008, prior to the national economy issues," Padgett said.
Clark Memorial has already invested $19 million toward the original $33 million cost for the IT upgrade.
The final step in the financing project will be approval by the Indiana Bond Bank. The proposal will go to the bank after a public notice period and a public hearing with county commissioners.