Rather than asking Judge William Finnegan to rule Friday on a request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Marion City Council from moving ahead with its third reading of its proposed lease extension with Marion General Hospital, County Prosecutor Jim Slagle and City Law Director Mark Russell have, instead, agreed to seek a declaratory judgment from the Court. As a result, the third reading on the hospital lease will not take place as scheduled Monday evening in council chambers.
By asking for a declaratory judgment, the city and county are asking Judge Finnegan to determine if it is necessary for the city to obtain consent from the county prior to adopting the proposed lease extension. The Court is expected to render a decision within approximately 45 days.
On the signature page of current lease, signed in 1983, is a consent provision that reads, “The County Commissioners of the County of Marion, Ohio, hereby approves and consents to the execution and delivery of this Lease.” It is signed by Robert A. Brown, a county commissioner at that time. This is what has caused much of the legal wrangling over the new lease agreement.
In reaction to this development, Marion General’s President and CEO Ronald J. Bachman says, “Although we are disappointed with yet another delay, we expect that the Court will hear this case in a timely fashion and define any rights and responsibilities the County has related to these deliberations. If the Court determines that the County has consent rights, we would certainly expect that the County will not unreasonably withhold its consent.”
Bachman did note that the request for a declaratory judgment slows down the lease extension process, and further delays the hospital’s plan to implement its $62 million dollar, multi-year master facility plan.
“We believe that city council was poised to proceed Monday night with its third reading on our lease extension. This request slows the progress we have made to date to extend our lease with the City of Marion,” he says. “The longer the lease negotiations linger, the further away we are from realizing our goal of undertaking significant improvements to our facility that will represent an additional investment in our community. Without an approved lease, we are not able to move forward on upgrading and expanding our healthcare facilities available for city and county residents alike.”
Scott Hoffman, chairman of the Marion General Hospital Board of Directors, added, “Today’s request will slow the work toward negotiating a new lease. Prolonged negotiations may have negative consequences on physician recruitment and retention, staff recruitment and retention and planned capital investments.”
Adds Hoffman, as the lease negotiation process drags on, not only does employee morale suffer, the costs of completing the master facility plan projects become more expensive and the probability of dissension between city and county leaders grows.
Hoffman also addressed what the hospital board hopes to accomplish with a new lease.
“Our hospital board of directors is comprised of city and county residents, respected leaders of this community, who volunteer their time and talents to serve as fiduciaries committed to our community,” says Hoffman. “As such, we are acting in what we sincerely believe is in the best interests of health care for our city and county residents. Our board has negotiated in good faith with city council in an effort to extend the existing lease so that we can make an investment of $62 million in improved and expanded facilities to improve health care for the community.”
