Starke Hospital will now be able to use space at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in the event of a disaster. The Knox City Council last week approved a memorandum of understanding, allowing the hospital to use the building’s executive room and office.
The agreement comes at a time when hospitals are being asked to be ready to increase their capacity, if there’s a surge in COVID-19 cases. But Starke Hospital’s arrangements appear to have been in the works for some time. The Knox School Board approved a similar agreement back in January. It allows Knox Middle School to be used as an alternate care site, if necessary.
Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council that the hospital’s use of the community center had been approved by the committee that was recently set up to review non-profit organizations’ requests to use the facility for free or at a discount.
