The Madison Valley Hospital District (MVHD) has reached a compromise with the Big Sky Resort Area District (BSRAD) that will allow Madison County residents who live in BSRAD to leave the hospital district and establish their own over the course of the next eight years. 

“It all started because I think these communities really wanted to figure this out,” said bill sponsor Senator Greg Hertz (R-Polson.) “It was a difficult hearing in the Senate, I can’t say that it wasn’t. We had school buses full of people.” Hertz went on later in testimony to state that this was one of the most difficult bills he has worked on. Which made the compromise all the more meaningful. 

“These people came together and I think it was just, we need to solve this problem,” he continued. “I can’t take the credit. There are a lot of people behind me who stepped up and got things done and I’m glad that we’re here.” 

“What we have come up with in the agreement is on the school side the school districts have come to an agreement,” stated Hertz in testimony in front of the House Local Government Committee. “What will end up having is called a reconciliation payment.”

He went on to describe the agreed process that will see a payment of approximately $400,000 per year go from Ennis School District (ESD) to Big Sky School District (BSSD) to support the roughly 25 students who are residents of ESD but attend BSSD. Later in the testimony it was pointed out that there will also be a parent advisory committee put in place to ensure the parents of those 25 students have a voice in the governance of BSSD. 

His testimony moved from the school district compromise, which has been in place prior to the bill passing the Senate floor and has also passed the House and the Senate in the form of HB 846, to a newly reached hospital district compromise. 

The amendment including the compromise was agreed upon so close to the hearing time that members of the hospital district and Ennis community who spoke as proponents of the amended SB 260 were registered to speak as opponents  to the unamended bill and changed their testimony when the compromise amendment was presented.  

“The agreement that now has been put together is very similar to a reconciliation step down of those districts. What will happen is SB 260 allows the people in the Big Sky area to petition and request to have their own hospital district. So that money can be used to help provide for the hospital services in the Big Sky area.”

“What will happen over about an eight year payment period is that [a percentage of] the revenues collected by the new Big Sky Hospital District (BSHD) will continue to be sent to the MVHD,” he said. 

Hertz went on to state the payment from the BSHD to MVHD will amount to about $23 million over the eight year period and will step down over time. 

After Hertz introduction, a series of proponents of SB 260 from the Big Sky community spoke to explain the amendment and give appreciation for the work that went into creating the amendment. 

“I’m really proud to share that the Big Sky and Ennis communities, both the school and hospital, have worked very diligently to come together on amendments that strengthen this bill and create a framework of mutual benefit,” said Kevin Germain, CEO of BSRAD. “This collaboration proves that compromise is possible when a framework exists.”  

After the proponent testimony attorney Bruce Spencer who was registered to oppose the bill on behalf of MVHD spoke to the eleventh hour compromise amendment. 

“I want to thank the sponsor, Ms. (Jessie) Luther and the proponents for the arduous task of coming to an agreement. And it was arduous,” Spencer stated. “The sponsor spent many hours on it and we didn’t get it done until this morning.” 

“Had we not done that, to put this in context for you, you would have had a busload of people from Ennis here and in the halls testifying about the danger of this bill to their community. And so without the amendments this bill pushed the hospital off the cliff financially and adversely affected the people of Ennis who work up in Big Sky,” he continued.

Spencer spoke to the issues facing the withdrawal of BSRAD residents of Madison County from the MVHD which included a steep loss of funding for the hospital and the lack of access to the hospital services those residents are faced with. 

“The amendment does resolve these issues. It allows a step down for the creation of the new district. It allows that district to be created relatively quickly which is a benefit to Big Sky but it also allows MVHD to service the bonded indebtedness it has over a 10 year period,” he explained. 

“We think that it can be a win-win that could not happen in litigation,” he continued. “I think there may be five lawsuits going on right now and they couldn’t settle it because they are constrained by the current statutory structure, where we as lobbyists and legislatures can say ‘well we can just change that’ which is exactly what we’re doing here. Someone was thinking outside the box and it's appreciated because it does solve a problem that has created some animosity between the communities.”

He went on to say the memorandum of understanding must be completed between BSRAD and MVHD and the lawsuits need to be put on hold before the amended bill can move forward.  He also indicated that efforts were underway to make those things happen. 

Madison Valley Medical Center CEO Allen Rohrback also changed his testimony from that of an opponent of the unamended bill to a proponent of the amended bill. 

“We were able to come together with a good idea, with a reconciliation payment,” stated Rorhback. “It is important to understand that Madison Valley Medical Center is a very small critical access hospital. It is an independent community owned small hospital not owned by a regional medical center so our ongoing operational budget is very important.” 

He went on to discuss the step down payments from the soon to be created Big Sky Hospital District will give a buffer for MVHD to find a path forward. 

“I’m pleased to announce that we worked hard on this and we even had our skepticism, we probably did on both sides, but I really think it’s the right answer. This gives us an eight year period to adjust our operating budget and to plan for the future,” he said.  

“The solution recognizes that Big Sky has their own vision of health care in their community and we respect that. This gives us an opportunity to focus on our other communities and to plan for the future. I want to thank the senators and the representatives for their help because I think this is an excellent way to move forward,” he concluded. 

As of press time it is reported that both MVHD and BSRAD have signed the required memorandum of understanding. The bill is scheduled for a second reading on the House floor Wednesday, April 22. This is a developing story and more details will be presented as they become available.