By Rich Larson, News Director
The Northfield City Council met in a work session last night to put the finishing touches on the city’s new Strategic Plan, with the intention of voting
to approve it at the next regular meeting.
City Administrator Ben Martig presented the draft to the council and put special emphasis on the value statement that will accompany the plan. He presented the council with the language that will be used sentence by sentence, asking for input and editing during the conversation.
Of particular concern was one sentence that was presented as “Pursue and value diversity, inclusion and broad perspectives.” Councilors Jessica Peterson-White and Clarice Grabau both found exception in the idea of broad perspectives, offering that the phrase could be interpreted as accepting of racist and derogatory thought. Peterson-White suggested the phrase be removed from the sentence, but Mayor Rhonda Pownell said she found the phrase to be an important one. The discussion was tabled and will be on the regular agenda next week as a separate item, in addition to the Strategic Plan itself.
Councilor Suzie Nakasian also said she had been disappointed in the planning process because she does not feel the City Boards and Commissions have been included enough. Nakasian pointed out that these are advisory groups to the council and should not have their priorities dictated to them. Instead, they should be consulted and asked to offer their ideas in the sections related to their board. She said that she hoped they would be included more in the future.
Administrator Martig reminded the council during his presentation that a strategic plan is a high-level document that is not meant to be something that lays out all details of what the city should do over the next three years. He said many of the action plans would be formed during the budgeting process later this summer.
The council is expected to approve the plan next week.
Hospital uses ‘clean’ audit to look to the future
Last week the Northfield Hospital presented the results of its 2020 audit to the City Council. The report found that Northfield Hospital + Clinics certainly had a down year but is in good shape and has been able to weather the pandemic better than many other health care systems.
Auditor Rob Schile of CliftonLarsonAllen said revenue was down by 8.9% in 2020, mostly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, NH+C was able to reduce expenses by 7.9%. While the result was a $3 million operating loss, there were mitigating factors that helped to keep things in order.
NH+C received $10.5 million in federal aid, and Medicare advanced them another $7 million in payments. As a result, the organization’s actual Day’s Cash on Hand situation grew in 2020. Moreover, the Northfield Hospital has had a longstanding policy of keeping a percentage of the annual budget in reserve, and City Administrator Ben Martig said that, along with thoughtful management, was the key to NH+C’s well being.
“The cash position of the hospital, as well as the nimbleness, as Rob Schile, the auditor from CliftonLarsonAllen said, is really a strength of our local hospital. That we had, and probably really from a local standpoint I know, connected with our community in new ways as well. The auditor didn’t necessarily get into that, but it was certainly discussed at the Hospital Board meeting.”
Schile said more than 50% of all hospitals and heatlh care facilities lost money during the pandemic, and that has resulted in, as Administrator Martig put it, the acceleration of many changes in the hospital services. Industry wide, health care systems are evaluating what they deem to be underperforming services, while embracing technological improvements such as telemedicine and virtual care.
Schile also said that the pandemic exposed the dilemmas in health care faced by lower income patients, and NH+C has made a commitment to addressing those issues.
Overall, though, Schile said, despite the operating loss, Northfield Hospital + Clinics is well positioned for success for years to come.
Northfield honored as 4th and 5th Step City
The City of Northfield is receiving praise for its work to become a more environmentally friendly city.
On Thursday the city was recognized by the GreenStep program for being a Step 4 and Step 5 community, which are the highest levels in the program.
GreenStep is a public/private partnership organized to help cities meet their sustainability and quality-of-life goals. The program focuses on cost saving, energy use reduction, resource conservation, climate change and the encouragement of civic innovation.
Beth Kallested, the City Program Coordinator said that Northfield has worked very hard to meet their sustainability and climate-related goals.
“This award shows community members and other cities across Minnesota that the City of Northfield is taking great steps in the direction of energy and resource conservation and innovation. [It is] a great achievement for the city. And by being part of the program, Northfield and our peers are helping to make Minnesota more resilient for the future while also helping our cities thrive economically.”
The city has been involved with the GreenStep Program since its inception in 2010. Northfield is one of 143 cities and tribal nations taking part.
