KINGMAN – In an attempt to establish its own identity, the Hospital District Board appears to be slamming the proverbial pedal to the metal and is poised to spend money that they may not possess.
Rather than working slowly and thoughtfully to correct the decades-old symbiotic relationship with KHI/KRMC, the new district board is on the fast track to disconnect, and it will be expensive.
Up to this time, the Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC) has provided at no cost, secretarial services, accounting services, a meeting room, recording and posting meetings to YouTube, and other services such as providing zoom so that members of the public may attend electronically. Now the district board will take that on as well as servicing the two IGAs (Intergovernmental Agreements).
The proposed budget documents and the budget summary are not easily interpreted. However, it appears that the board does not have and will not have adequate funds to sustain its wish list without an infusion of funds, i.e., a much larger lease payment from its tenant (KRMC), imposing taxes on district residents or issuing bonds.
This little-known district has issued bonds only once in its nearly 44-year history and that was to purchase the hospital from Mohave County and the bonds are now paid off. It has never imposed taxes.
The district lost an estimated $1.2 million in fiscal year 2025/26 due to the former board chairman’s neglect to negotiate the lease payment from $100,000 per month to $200,000 per month at the end of fiscal year 2024/25. It now appears that the lease payment will remain at $1.2 million through 2030.
From November 1, 2024 through May 1, 2025 the board has made payments totaling $1,232,640 plus $82,180 in administration fees to Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) for the Access to Professional Services Initiative (ASPI) IGA.
There is one other payment on this particular IGA that is due August 1, 2026 in the amount of $410,880 and the final payment of $410,880 will be due August 1, 2027. The General Medical Education (GME) IGA runs parallel with the ASPI agreement.
The Board made an initial payment of $544,641 on this $2,269,250 agreement; and subsequent payments of $453,850 in February, May and August, 2025. There is a $453,850 payment due August 1, 2026 on this IGA and it is uncertain if there is an additional payment in August, 2027.
The board has never denied any request by the hospital for participation in these agreements. In an August, 2024 district board meeting, Joshua Hoffman, CFO at KRMC, stated the ASPI funds would be used for various items including giving raises to their staff.
The proposed budget does not take into account IGA payments or additional IGAs that may be entered into which will encumber the Hospital District well into the future. The budget will be on the board’s agenda on June 2, at 2 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Mohave A Conference Room at KRMC, 3269 Stockton Hill Rd. in Kingman.
Becky Foster
