Williamson County Waffles Again On Selling Its Medical Center

The Williamson County Commission has again turned back an effort to sell its publicly owned hospital. Off and on for years, the panel has been considering the prospect of cashing out, but this week it rejected a proposal to put the question to a referendum vote.

Rather than a simple endorsement of county ownership, many who object to selling the medical center just don’t see the point, largely because state law is quite restrictive as to what can be done with proceeds from a public hospital. A 2006 law was even further strengthened in 2012. The money must go into a trust and state law would likely have to change to allow the money to be on education.

Commissioner Brian Beathard said it's hard to see a way that a sale would benefit the county — which badly needs revenue to fund construction of new schools.

"Not only does it not go to the county commission and go to a trust, we can't even elect the people who would control that trust. Essentially, to sell the hospital is to give it away," Beathard said before Monday night's vote.

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