FOUNDATION EXPLORES 'OTHER OPTIONS' FOR DEXTER HOSPITAL

DEXTER -- With Dexter Memorial Hospital facing an uncertain future as its parent company seeks a buyer, efforts are being made to ensure the availability of local health care services.

Dr. Ron Hill, chief surgeon at the hospital and a member of the Dexter Memorial Healthcare Foundation, said the agency is exploring "other options" in the event that NetCare Health Services finds a buyer that is not interested in running a small rural hospital.

NetCare, based in Nashville, has been managing the hospital for less than a year. The Daily Statesman on Wednesday verified that the hospital-management company is seeking a buyer.

Calls made to NetCare have been unsuccessful. Messages left on the company's switchboard answering machine went unreturned.

The Dexter Memorial Healthcare Foundation is the 15-member board that managed the hospital before it affiliated with NetCare. After the affiliation, a new, smaller board was installed to provide oversight for the hospital's administration. However, the new board wasn't named until several months into the affiliation.

Hill said Foundation members are concerned about the fate of the hospital, which, as Foundation President Jerry Dorton pointed out Wednesday, hinges in large part on the interests of potential NetCare buyers. "The problem I see is that they might not want a small hospital," Hill said.

Considering that possibility, the Foundation is wasting little time to try and ensure the continuation of hospital services in Dexter. "We're not sitting idly," Hill said. "We're looking at some other options."