MOUNT GILEAD — While the Morrow County Hospital board and employees move on with the day-to-day business of caring for patients, there is still a proposal from the Avita Health System on the table for the hospital board to consider.

The Morrow County Hospital Board of Trustees signed the contract with OhioHealth in May to extend their contract to manage and staff the hospital for 10 years.

Commissioners have reached out to the hospital board asking to put behind any disputes so that the opportunity to purchase the hospital offered by Avita could be considered. They wish to resolve the case now in the Ohio Supreme Court of Patrick Drouhard v. the Morrow County Board of County Commissioners. (Case no. 2019-1043).

In an Oct. 16 letter to the board and their attorney, commissioners offered to start the process fresh and withdraw the reasons for Drouhard’s removal from the hospital board.

The commissioners’ attorney Mark Landes wrote: “My clients propose that the parties reach out to the mediation services of the Ohio Supreme Court. A mediator may be able to bring the parties to a resolution that benefits Morrow county. There is clearly much to agree on.”

Several Morrow County residents requested to have a look at both the OhioHealth contract with Morrow County Hospital and the Avita proposal to purchase the local hospital. They wanted to know what is actually being offered by both health systems.

The link to both the contract and proposal can be found at: morrowcountyohio.gov/index.php/proposals/morrow-county-hospital

By Alberta Stojkovic

The Sentinel