<div>Crawford Memorial Hospital’s new specialty clinic in Newton is open but some question if it should even exist.Several people, including current and former members of the Crawford County Board attended a recent meeting of the CMH board to question if the hospital had violate state law by opening a clinic outside its district boundaries.“I don’t believe anybody on this board has done anything malicious,” County board member Jonathon Goff said, adding that opening a new clinic is “probably a smart business move.”However, as pointed out by another speaker, John Craft, the law states that tax-supported hospitals are prohibited from operating facilities outside of their taxing districts, unless they first get voter approval via referendum.“I don’t think there’s much way around that,” Goff said.He added CMH has made a profit through patient revenues, enough that he questioned why it was still collecting property tax money.“The simple solution is to stop collecting the tax,” Goff said. “Taxpayers don’t need the extra burden from an organization that makes millions.”Board Chairman Tom Moore said CMH officials believe they done nothing wrong based on an attorney’s advice. He pointed out, however, that he doesn’t know enough about tax laws to feel confident to discuss the matter.He did say that the board seeks to look after the best interests of taxpayers and that the hospital district’s primary mission is to serve Crawford County and the area by “providing and continually improving high quality care.”It is not the first time CMH has extended service into Jasper County. It operated the Newton Rural Health Clinic for several years beginning in February 1993. That clinic was made possible, in part, by a Federal Rural Health Transition Grant that aimed to aid rural hospitals in underserved areas provide additional services.CMH Chief Executive Officer Doug Florkowski was out of town and not present for the meeting.In other business, Director of Financial Services Michael Cheesman said, “August overall was a good month with positive results” financially. Expenses were under budget but were higher than last year.The February meeting will be pushed back a week to the 24th so board members can attend a conference conducted by management group Ovation. The annual board retreat will follow on March 11 at Quail Creek Country Club.A contract was approved with Epic EHR for electronic medical records services.Various policy and manual updates were approved.</div>

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Crawford Memorial Hospital’s new specialty clinic in Newton is open but some question if it should even exist. Several people, including current and former members of the Crawford County Board attended a recent meeting of the CMH board to question if the hospital had violate state law by opening a clinic outside its district boundaries.

CMH Newton clinic called into question

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Crawford Memorial Hospital’s new specialty clinic in Newton is open but some question if it should even exist. Several people, including current and former

CMH Newton clinic called into question

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