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JETCO board agrees to partner with Paxton on proposed ER/hospital in Marion County
Summary
The JETCO board unanimously agreed to partner with Paxton (presented by Bill Wright) to support a proposed ER/hospital project in Marion County, offering collaboration and letters of support for grant and state/federal applications; the project would include 10 beds and three mental-health crisis rooms, with remediation work projected to begin in early 2026.
The JETCO board voted unanimously to partner with Paxton (a proposer represented in the record by Bill Wright) and to provide assistance such as letters of support for grant and regulatory applications aimed at opening a proposed ER/hospital intended to serve Marion County and surrounding rural areas.
Bill Wright summarized the project by phone and answered questions from board members. He said the facility plan includes about 10 total beds and a small footprint (approximately 2,000 square feet), with an emergency area of roughly 10 bays to handle surges. Wright emphasized a rural triage model and said the project envisions three dedicated mental-health crisis rooms to reduce law-enforcement and ambulance transports for behavioral-health incidents. "We envision having 3, mental health crisis rooms," Wright said.
Wright outlined a near-term timeline: paperwork and applications were under way, an asbestos report (described in the presentation as costing about $45,000) had been provided, and environmental remediation was targeted to begin in 2026; Wright said he expects asbestos removal and related remediation to take two to three months once begun. When asked if the facility would serve only indigent patients, Wright replied that it would be open to all patients, not only indigent individuals.
A board member moved that JETCO partner and collaborate with Paxton, offering letters of support and the assistance described in the request; Mister Shaw seconded the motion and the chair called the vote, which the chair stated carried unanimously. Wright thanked the board and ended the call. The board noted no executive session was required and adjourned.
Next steps cited in discussion included continuing paperwork, finalizing remediation scheduling, and preparing letters of support or other documentation as requested by the proposer.
