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Enterprise council authorizes up to $600,000 annually for temporary obstetrics support
Summary
The Enterprise City Council voted to authorize the mayor to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Enterprise Health Care Authority to help cover temporary obstetrics coverage costs — up to $600,000 per year for up to four years — while local providers and the hospital pursue longer-term staffing solutions.
The Enterprise City Council voted to authorize Mayor Cooper to enter into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Enterprise Health Care Authority that will allow the authority to help fund temporary obstetrics coverage up to $600,000 annually for a term of up to four years.
City Administrator Donathan Tullis told the council the action is intended as a short-term measure while the hospital and local providers recruit additional obstetricians. “It’s about $4,000 a day is what it costs to do that,” Tullis said, describing the expense of bringing in outside physicians to provide on‑call coverage. He estimated the need could “roughly” total close to $600,000 a year if two physicians require regular outside coverage.
The MOA language presented to the council caps the annual payment at $600,000 and limits the agreement’s term to four years. Tullis described the proposal as a “band aid until we’re able to get providers or other solutions that can be worked out with the hospital, health care authority or anyone else.” The council motion to authorize the mayor to sign the agreement passed on a voice vote with no opposing recorded comments.
The staff briefing said the immediate issue stems from the possible departure or reduced availability of the two local obstetricians who hold hospital privileges, which could require the hospital to pay for outside physicians to provide on‑call coverage from other cities. Tullis said the recruiting effort is underway but that, until new physicians are recruited, the hospital faces the recurring cost of outside coverage for deliveries that cannot be scheduled.
The MOA will be negotiated in consultation with the city council president and the city attorney, per the motion. Council members and staff described the arrangement as temporary and contingent on future recruitment and hospital staffing decisions.
The council did not set a separate line item or appropriation detail at the meeting; Tullis described the figure as the maximum the agreement would allow and said further conversations with the health care authority and the hospital would follow to determine actual payments and timing.
Background: The Enterprise Health Care Authority manages Enterprise Health and Rehab and works with local health providers and the hospital on service delivery and personnel issues. Council members described the item as a short‑term step to avoid interruption of local births while longer‑term recruitment continues.
