Logan Medical Center Board of Trustees Approve Preliminary Plan for Local Group to Present Plan to County Commissioners to Restructure Hospital February 23, 2010 - GUTHRIE - The Logan Medical Center Board of Trustees have given the green light for an organizational restructuring plan to be presented to Logan County Commissioners. Three Logan County residents and community leaders, LaVerne A. Dowding, Guthrie BancFirst president, Kay Wade, executive director of the Logan County Economic Development Council and Guthrie lawyer and Davis Farms Manager Kenny Davis have created the restructuring plan, which would eliminate LMC's dependency on a county tax within three years and turn the hospital into a not-for-profit healthcare organization. The organization created by the restructuring plan, Logan Regional Health Systems (LRHS), would be controlled locally, cause no change or interruption in services and retain current physicians and staff. The partners of LRHS, Mr. Dowding, Ms. Wade and Mr. Davis, are well-respected community members who are committed to keeping the hospital viable, protect its employees and continue its mission to provide exceptional healthcare. Dennis Ochs, Logan Medical Center Board Chair said, "What is so appealing to us about this plan is that we are not placing the hospital up for sale, but rather, giving members of the community the opportunity to buy the hospital from the County." The restructuring plan is time sensitive, however; the current proposal will expire April 15, 2010. Over the years, LMC executive board members have tried unsuccessfully to find an interested buyer for the hospital. "As longtime residents of Logan County, my colleagues and I feel strongly about supporting the hospital, its people and the families that have been served here for the past 38 years," stated Mr. Dowsing. "We're very pleased that the board of trustees of Logan Medical Center gave us their consent to move our plan to the next step, which is to present it to the County Commissioners. We look forward to that opportunity and our goal is to make the presentation at the upcoming March 15, 2010 meeting. With the current proposal, LRHS would partner with Whitestone Management LLC, a critical access hospital planning and development company, and Staubach Realty Partners of Dallas. The proposed partnership would provide $5.1 million to Logan County for the ownership transfer of hospital facilities, land and assets. The special purpose county tax the hospital currently receives would be eliminated by Jan. 1, 2014,, and would be used until then for indigent and charity care. "We believe it is totally reasonable for Logan Regional Health Systems to ask the county commissioners and the citizens of Logan County to continue receiving the .75 percent sales tax for the three-year period they've outlined," commented Ochs. "Because Mr. Dowding and his group have committed to working with the hospital to ensure charity care can still be supported so that we can continue to invest in the facility, recruiting new physicians and adding life-saving technology, we believe the community will stand behind it." The long-range strategic plan for LMC has been to eliminate its dependency on a county sales tax. The current restructuring proposal does this and is aligned with the hospital's current strategic and master facilities development plan.