Hiring a primary care physician is part of a plan the Garfield County Hospital District has created to preserve health care in one of Washington’s most rural areas.

Dr. Christopher Iacobelli has signed a four-year contract and is scheduled to start seeing patients 14 and older four days a week at the district’s clinic on March 16.

He most recently practiced at a veterans clinic in Lewiston and has previously worked for Tri-State Memorial Hospital in Clarkston.

The addition of Iacobelli is anticipated to increase revenue by an amount that hasn’t been estimated, said district co-CEO Mat Slaybaugh in an email.

“We know our community has wanted a full-time (doctor) and expect to see increased patient volumes as a result,” Slaybaugh said. “The clinic is the biggest driver for lab, radiology and physical therapy volumes, so increases at the clinic will have a compounding benefit.”

Iacobelli’s hiring is one of the measures the district is taking to improve its financial position as it goes back to county voters on April 28 and asks them to approve the same one-year, $860,000 special levy that failed by 18 votes in November.

Ballots are being mailed April 10 and need to be postmarked no later than April 28. They can also be left in a drop box on the east side of the Garfield County Courthouse.

The special levy would cost $1.56 per $1,000 of assessed value and be collected in 2021, said Garfield County Auditor Donna Deal.

It’s in addition to an ongoing annual levy of $206,000 that supports the district.

“The district has operated at a loss for many, many years,” Slaybaugh said. “We have not passed a special levy since 2016 to make up for those losses. This has resulted in our cash reserves being severely depleted ... which is why we are asking for such a large levy.”

A community group supporting the levy will hold two meetings in upcoming weeks. (See box accompanying story.)

District officials are making contingency plans for if the levy fails.

“Without a levy, we are in a tough spot and would need to begin looking at what services can be wound down,” Slaybaugh said. “The goal would be to salvage some form of health care in the community. We continue to have those (discussions) but (remain) more focused on growing and improving.”

Besides bringing Iacobelli on board and seeking the levy, the district is decreasing costs for its emergency room and medications while trying to attract more patients to its long-term care unit.

The district has hired a physician’s assistant and a nurse practitioner to help staff its 24-hour emergency room, saving about $150,000 a year and reducing the district’s anticipated annual loss to $400,000.

The wages of the new staff members are less than what a third-party firm charges the district for itinerant medical professionals who do the same work. The district still uses some itinerant staff in the emergency room, but not as many as before the physician’s assistant and nurse practitioner joined the staff.

The district is required to have a 24-hour emergency room to maintain its federal status as a critical access hospital, which improves its Medicare reimbursements.

At the same time, the district is enrolling in a federal program to purchase medications at discounted rates, which is projected to generate $120,000 annually.

Plus, the district’s staff is being trained to provide rehabilitation, which is anticipated to boost use of its long-term care facility and net $83,000 in its first year, then provide more revenue in subsequent years.

“With all of these changes, we hope to get to a much more stable financial position,” Slaybaugh said. “We do not want to rely so heavily on our community for tax support. Unfortunately, in a community the size of Pomeroy, it will always require some level of tax support to maintain health care. Our goal is to minimize that amount.”

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

Public meeting

Community meetings about the Garfield County Hospital District levy will be held at 7 p.m. March 25 and 7 p.m. April 1 at Pomeroy’s Senior Center at 695 Main St. in Pomeroy.