Local News – Monday, December 4th, 2023

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors met Thursday evening for a special meeting at the fire station. After the call to order, Board President Craig Smith announced that the meeting was being held on short notice due to the necessity of the meeting, and with the phone lines and internet systems being down Wednesday, communications had been hindered to provide any timely notice. In new business, Dave Wells was nominated to be the custodian of records and budget manager. The nomination was accepted and Wells will include those duties to his current duties as secretary- treasurer. The board then briefly went into closed session. Coming back into open session, the board accepted the resignation request of Chief Brad Nash to step down as the district chief. A motion was made and carried to assign Assistant Chief Dennis Floyd as the interim Fire Chief. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Salem Hospital Board held a special meeting Friday afternoon in front of a large crowd of hospital employees to discuss the revised COVID vaccination booster policy recently approved by the board, and to discuss employee health insurance. The issue was revisited after the hospital had an employee townhall meeting with members of the board in which there was much discontent about the policy. The CDC is not mandating the booster and surrounding hospitals were also not mandating the booster. All the board indicated their original intent was to protect the patients and staff. Each board member had a chance to speak and Dr. Price seemed to sum it up best when she said the board approved the policy without taking into consideration those staff who do not deal with patients at all, or those with limited access to patients. She also said the board intended to allow any staff member who did not want to take the booster, not for just religious or medical exemptions, but also for any reason, which was not how the policy was interpreted. After a discussion, the board revised the policy as they are NOT mandating any employee to have to take the COVID booster, but they strongly encourage it and if the employee wishes to be vaccinated, the hospital will pay for it. It was brought up about adding a masking provision, but the hospital’s current masking policy was sufficient to cover what was needed. Interim CEO Jason Edwards talked about the health insurance for the employees. He has been in conversation with the management team which recommends the hospital changing insurance brokers, but at this late time, that can’t be done. The hospital is self-insured that is backed by a re-issurance broker which is currently IMA. The hospital has had a lot of claims which has driven their rate up. The anticipated cost for 2023 to the hospital is about $2,094,000 and with employee contributions expected at $366,470, the hospital will be responsible for the other $1.7 million dollars. Those costs in 2024 are expected to go up to $2,832,851 which is a 35.3% increase. The board discussed raising the employee contribution just over 20% to help pay for the raise in rates that would still leave the hospital responsible for 2.39 million dollars. After some discussion, the board elected to leave the current employee contributions at their current level with the hospital picking up any additional costs which appears to be close to $738,603. The board also approved looking for a new broker, preferably one they can talk to in person before deciding which one to go with, or even explore other options. This will probably not happen until the middle of 2024. The meeting was then adjourned.

An accident happened Sunday afternoon in Texas County on Highway 137 about two-and-a half miles north of Raymondville. According to the highway patrol report, a 2006 GMC Pickup driven northbound by 28-year-old Lydia Beyer of Salem, traveled off the left side of the roadway and overturned. Beyer suffered serious injuries and was transported by the Texas County Ambulance to the Texas County Memorial Hospital. Beyer was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The GMC was totaled in the accident and removed from the scene by Jay’s Automotive in Houston.