In the first meeting of the new year, the Starke County Commissioners reorganized and made appointments to several boards. Kathy Norem was elected as the President of the Board of Commissioners with Dan Bridegroom as Vice President and Jennifer Davis as Secretary. The vote for commissioner Norem was unanimous, and she thanked her predecessor, Dan Bridegroom, for his three years of service as Board President. Martin Lucas was retained as the county attorney.
One suspect remains at large in the Knox CVS armed robbery incident. The other suspect, Nathan Hummel, of Culver, was arrested at the Raymond Hummel residence on Union Road in Marshall County after the incident occurred.
Longtime Starke County Hospital Community Board Member, Ed Hasnerl, recently notified hospital officials that he would be stepping down from the position January 1st, 2012.
IU Health Starke Hospital official, David Hiatt, commented recently on the outstanding job Mr. Hasnerl did as a member of the board.
“There’s not much we can say about Ed that’s not positive,” said Hiatt. “Ed has been with the hospital as long as I’ve been here. I think he started serving on the Board of Advisors in 1997 and he’s always been just a staunch supporter of the hospital and really contributed a lot of his time in making sure that healthcare in Starke County is better than anything else around. We couldn’t have gotten to where we are without Ed and it’s hard to say in words how much appreciation we have for the time and effort that he’s put in to helping the hospital.”
I.U. Health LaPorte is the lessee of the local facility, and according to David Hiatt, who explained the offer to local officials in October, five to seven million dollars in capital needs are required at the hospital.
“We have significant needs that must be addressed now before we start planning for the long-term facility, or what is going to happen long-term,” said Hiatt.
IU Health Starke Hospital officials have agreed to wait at least until the second quarter of 2012 to sign a contract with a private ambulance service to provide emergency transfers from Starke to other acute care hospitals.
At issue was a plan that would have cost the local EMS $100,000 if it lost the Basic Life Support patients that it has been transferring in the past.
The Knox Community School Board heard from Elementary School Assistant Principal, Michelle Tarnow, who presented the Little F.I.S.H. program as the Spotlight on Success portion of the project. The Little F.I.S.H. program is available through IU Health Starke Hospital.
“F.I.S.H. is the acronym for Feeling Important Staying Healthy and the Little F.I.S.H. program offers students in the fourth grade level ideas and different recipes and different foods that they can eat and that are more healthy than others,” said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “They each get a t-shirt and it has created some excitement with other grade levels. Our fourth grade is large enough this year that we split up the students so that not as many kids are being shown the program at one time so they come twice a month for the program.”
IU Health Starke Hospital officials met yesterday with county officials to discuss a potential problem that could scuttle plans for upgraded EMS services in the county.
The potential problem is the hospital’s plan to contract with an outside ambulance service to provide transfers from here to other medical facilities for advanced care. As hospital CEO Linda Satkoski said, “We many times need ALS-equipped vehicles with paramedics to make those runs.” The problem is that any private company wants all transfers, advanced and basic.
Diabetes education classes are beginning tonight at IU Health Starke Hospital. Presenters will be Dr. Byron Holm and Meg Meznarick, RD, CD.
Tonight’s class will be Introduction to Diabetes. There will be three classes in the series that will be each Thursday night from 6:00-7:00 p.m. CT.
The Starke County Council recently passed a $2 million capital spending request by administrators from IU Health Starke Hospital for 2012.
A discussion was held on hospital administrators reporting on the use of discretionary funds, which CEO Linda Satkoski said was acceptable.
A capital spending request presented by officials from IU Health Starke Hospital to the Starke County Council was approved Monday night, but it didn’t exactly turn out the way the hospital administrators present wanted it to. The administrators wanted a straight approval on the $2,001,776 request, but the council put a restriction on the $250,000 contingency part of the petition.
Starke County officials are discussing selling IU Health Starke Hospital to IU Health LaPorte Hospital. A committee made up of county officials has been named and now members from the IU Health Starke Hospital Board have been named to be on the committee that will bring a sale recommendation to the county.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department responded to a dog attack call Thursday. When officers arrived on scene, at 2220 East 200 South in Knox, they saw Marshall Garlach had extensive injuries to his entire body after being attacked by two American Bulldogs.
Starke County officials were approached about the sale of IU Health Starke Hospital to IU Health LaPorte Hospital this week.
One point that hospital spokesman, David Hiatt, pointed out to the commissioners and council members was that IU Health LaPorte Hospital, if successful in purchasing the local hospital, would have no interest in receiving the Save the Hospital Fund that has grown over the years to almost $5 million. The fund, that captures lease payments, was originally set up when Principal leased then-Starke Memorial.
There’s more today on the proposed sale of IU Health Starke Hospital to IU Health LaPorte Hospital. It was reported that the offer to purchase the hospital is for $1.00. Money-wise, there’s more to the offer.
Hospital spokesperson, David Hiatt, mentioned that Starke County is already on the hook for approximately $7.4 million that IU Health LaPorte Hospital inherited with the signing of the lease in 2006. If they decided to not renew the lease in 2016, the county would be responsible for that much money. If the hospital were to be sold to IU Health LaPorte Hospital, that money would be waived.
Officials from IU Health Starke Hospital appeared before the Starke County Board of Commissioners and County Council last night to request permission for IU Health LaPorte Hospital to purchase the facility, equipment and property here in Knox.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department was called to a one vehicle accident on State Road 39 on Tuesday.
A witness told police that he saw Vivianna Hernandez, 33, of Knox, southbound on State Road 39 near 200 South and she left the roadway, hit a mailbox and then hit a tree. Officers determined at the scene that she had been drinking at the time of the accident. She was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital for injuries sustained in the accident and for a blood draw to determine blood alcohol level. The results of that blood draw are pending.
A Knox man was arrested Thursday after an employee at Burger King observed him to be intoxicated in the Drive-thru.
According to the police report, the Knox City Police officer observed the suspect vehicle going eastbound on State Road 8. The officer stated that he saw the driver go left of center three times and initiated a traffic stop. The driver failed to stop; in fact, he sped up. The chase went north on State Road 23 where the officer clocked speeds up to 95 miles per hour. The pursuit ended at 9840 E. 50 S. at the suspect’s home. The officer got out of his vehicle and ordered Danny Traylor out of the vehicle. He told officers that he had to hurry home and get food to his wife. The officer observed Traylor to be intoxicated and asked to perform sobriety tests which he refused. He was eventually taken into custody and taken to IU Health Starke Hospital for a blood draw.
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department were called to a single vehicle rollover Wednesday afternoon on U.S. 35 just north of 300 North.
The driver, Douglas Kline, 67, of Granger, Indiana, told police that he was traveling north on U.S. 35 and he must have dozed off. The vehicle left the roadway and flipped in a ditch on the west side of the road. Kline suffered minor injuries in the accident. He was transported to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment.
Calling the future of IU Health Starke Hospital and the decision to be made on the Starke County Jail the two most important issues over the next five years, Commissioner Kathy Norem said a night should be devoted to providing information to the public on both issues.
The hospital administration was to attend the September 19th regular meeting of the Commissioners, but Norem thought the presentations would be more important than just being discussed with other county business.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an accident that occurred Friday at 600 East and 700 North.
The accident involved a pickup truck and a moped. The driver of the moped, whose name has not been released by police, was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital and later airlifted by Med Flight to Memorial Hospital Trauma Center where he was listed in critical condition. The driver of the pickup truck was not injured in the accident.
The names of either individual have not been released. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Hamlet Fire Department, Starke County EMS and the Koontz Lake Fire Department.
