The Three Rivers Health Authority Board will meet in special session Thursday morning (May 7th) to discuss next steps following voter rejection of a proposed two-mill tax levy in Tuesday’s election.

Unofficial results from the balloting show that 1,359 “no” votes were cast compared to 806 “yes” votes – 62.77 percent versus 37.23 percent.

Had the millage been approved, it would have generated approximately $1.4 million in the first year of a ten-year period, money that would have been available for capital improvements.

During an interview the River Country Journal Tuesday evening, Matt Chambers, president and CEO of Three Rivers Health, said, “Obviously, we’re disappointed.  It’s a critical time for the hospital right now and services are in jeopardy and it’s disappointing that we’ll have to cut services.  We’re just saddened by that, but we did want the public to make their desires known and so they’ve, I guess, let us know the services are not important so we’ll have to very quickly regroup with the board on Thursday to determine what we need to do next.”

Regarding the 2,195 voters who participated in the balloting, Chambers said, “It was a really surprising number who actually showed up to vote so that was a good thing.”

Not so good, however, is the recessionary economy in which the local hospital and others around Michigan are facing substantial financial challenges.  Chambers said, “It’s a precarious time.  The governor’s executive orders have just cut an additional four percent from physician reimbursement and four percent from hospital reimbursement which puts us even more on a teetering edge.  I’m genuinely concerned about the ability of the hospital to continue to operate.”

The Three Rivers Health Authority Board will meet at 7 a.m. Thursday at the hospital.

To hear the post-election interview with Matt Chambers (3:17) – conducted by Bruce Snook of the River Country Journal – click here.