ELGIN — Elgin may team up with Comanche County Memorial Hospital to build a stand-alone emergency room and a primary care center at the city’s industrial park.
The Elgin City Council discussed the possibility with CCMH’s executive director, Sean McAvoy, on June 13 but did not take any action.
After considering the issue earlier this month, the Elgin Economic Development Authority considered the issue agreed to move forward with acquiring land for the project, said Mayor JJ Francais.
“There are two parcels of land out there, separated by a drainage channel,” he said. “Everything on the east side of the drainage channel – there’s roughly four acres – that would be the primary care facility. And on the west side of the drainage channel, going on three acres, would be the stand-alone ER.”
Francais said he worked with the hospital’s CEO, Brent Smith, on obtaining American Rescue Plan Act dollars to help cover the cost of building the emergency room. He said they were a little late in obtaining ARPA funds for the project, and now they are hoping to persuade Congress to earmark money for it.
Francais said the city and the hospital need to prove that they have established a partnership. Consequently, the mayor proposed that the Elgin Public Works Authority waive water and sewer installation fees for the project, which would be evidence of the partnership.
The city’s legal adviser, Amanda Mullins, noted that any agreements between the city and the hospital would need to be put in writing.
Primary care
McAvoy said the primary care facility, which would include family practice and pediatrics offices, would be built in the first phase of the project. He added that lab work may eventually be performed at the facility, which would help support a free-standing emergency room at the industrial park.
“Primary care is what keeps people out of the ER, but the ER is where you can go whenever something happens,” McAvoy said. “Having that type of facility in our town – we’re thinking it could become kind of a health plex for Elgin.”
Councilman Fred Guevara wanted to know if the hospital had a time frame for building the emergency room.
“Because that’s, essentially, I think what everybody is most excited about,” he said.
McAvoy said it was difficult to set a time frame for the ER without knowing when funding will be available.
“If everything’s ready to go and we get the state Department of Health to approve it, get utilities set up if they’re not already there – it’s roughly 24 months,” he said. “Because there’s a lot of inspections that happen along the way.”