Plans for a new hospital in Cache County are on hold as Western Medical Inc. continues to search for partners in the $10 million venture.
"It may be very difficult to build the hospital," said Rusty Shelton, the corporation's chief executive officer. "Plans for the hospital are developing but are behind schedule."Nearly a year ago, Shelton and Western Medical said plans for the proposed 20-bed hospital were under way and ground-breaking at a 16-acre North Logan site the company owns were scheduled for fall. They expected to have the hospital operating by the end of this year or early next year.
Logan-based Western Medical was trying to affiliate with Columbia-Hospital Corp. of America, but the companies were unable to reach an agreement.
"We're having ongoing discussions with potential partners," Shelton said. "We have the property in North Logan and we have the doctors, but we can't build the facility until we put the infrastructure together."
Western Medical initially had looked into leasing beds at Logan Regional Hospital, but the plan was rejected by the hospital. Logan Regional Hospital Administrator Richard Smith said the proposal to lease the 20 beds was less than the cost of providing them.
Meanwhile, Shelton and Western Medical are focusing on efforts to secure health insurance contracts for the Western Medical Independent Physicians Association. That association is comprised of 42 area physicians, a number of whom are shareholders in Western Medical. It also includes a number of doctors who last month announced plans no longer to contract with Intermountain Health Care's health insurance plans.