Blue Mountain Hospital CEO Derek Daly said hospitals will expect to see increasing uncompensated care costs as the uninsured population rises as a result of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act's individual insurance mandate in the new federal tax legislation recently passed.

Blue Mountain Hospital District has entered the final month of its contract with management company Health TechS3.

According to hospital CEO Derek Daly, the contract with the company — which provides various services ranging from financial audits to a group purchasing organization to reduce costs for supplies — officially expires on March 31.

The hospital board opted not to renew the company’s contract at its Nov. 19 meeting.

Hospital board chair Amy Kreger has declined to comment on the specifics of the board’s decision and what the hospital’s management will look like as of April 1.

The Eagle has filed a public records request for information related to board’s decision to end the contract with Health TechS3.

BMHD, which is a critical access hospital, is partially funded by local property taxes.

According to David Thunell, the county’s tax assessor, the hospital’s taxing district will receive $1,339,290 during the 2020-21 tax year.

Thunell said the hospital recently retired its 2001 bond, which was for $7 million over 20 years. He said the bond received $740,223 for the 2020-21 tax year.

Mike Lieb, the regional vice president of Health TechS3, said in his Thursday report that it looks like the hospital and the management company are getting very close to having all of the final documents agreed upon. He said they should be ready within the next week.