It sounded a bit ominous when a resolution was passed at the Winnebago City Council meeting to call upon the United Hospital District and its board of directors to be dissolved.

And that the hospital had been purchased by another entity.

“I want to stress that this does not mean that UHD has sold out to a large group,” UHD CEO Rick Ash said in an interview last week after that Winnebago City Council meeting. “Everything, including the name, is staying the same.”

The story behind this resolution at the Winnebago City Council meeting is a little bit complicated – and confusing.

United Hospital District was formed by 12 governmental entities years ago, with members of the board of directors elected by persons residing in those 12 districts.

The districts were four cities (Blue Earth, Elmore, Frost and Winnebago) and eight townships (Blue Earth City, Elmore, Emerald, Jo Daviess, Pilot Grove, Prescott, Verona and Winnebago City).

Then in November of 2014, UHD decided to lease the hospital complex to an entity called United Hospital District Inc. (UHDI).

In October of 2018, UHDI exercised its option to purchase all of the buildings, furniture, equipment, etc. And recently that purchase was concluded.

“The elected board members of UHD have a consensus recommendation that it is time to dissolve United Hospital District,” attorney David Frundt explained in a letter to the Winnebago City Council. “The new non-profit hospital is now well established and serves a much larger geographic area than the original hospital district.”

Frundt went on to explain that the process for dissolution under Minnesota law requires that the process begin with a petition for dissolution be brought forward by at least one governmental entity district member.

“Then the elected board can vote to dissolve the district (UHD),” Frundt wrote. “The resolution is a necessary petition. One has been sent out to all of the member governmental entities.”

The resolution states that neither UHD nor UHDI anticipate this purchase will result in a material change in the health facility operations

Rick Ash echoed those comments.

“We don’t see any changes in how UHD has been operating,” Ash said. “There is just no need to have two boards any longer. The elected board has been meeting only once a year. And several people are members of both boards.”