The Basin Clinic Board of Directors held their regular monthly meeting March 17. Then, the board reviewed the clinic’s bills, noting that X-ray fees for the last month appeared to have increased significantly. Executive Director Christina Pierce explained the increase was due to receiving multiple bills at once, as the clinic had not received several past bills.
Pierce told the board that a solution to the clinic’s need for X-ray services may be available to the clinic through Casper Medical Imaging & Outpatient Radiology. She said the company is already working with two other rural health care facilities and is willing to work with the Basin Clinic.
“It’ll be a lot more seamless than what we currently have going,” Pierce said.
“Their turnaround time is a lot better than what we’ve been getting,” board member Chris Daniels added.
Pierce agreed and said the new arrangement could place imaging in patients’ charts in as little as a few hours, while the current arrangement can take up to a few weeks.
The board explored options for the clinic’s financial audit. Pierce said she’s gotten a few referrals for auditors and reached out to them. She said three of the options returned her call, and Pierce shared that information with the board.
She asked board members whether they’d prefer to do a financial review and then an audit in 2027, or go directly into an audit. She said Basin Clinic does not currently have any government contracts that require an audit. The board decided to get a letter of engagement from the parties offering to audit the clinic, before making any motions to approve anything.
The board will have a table at West End Public School’s Spring Carnival on Apr. 2, held at Nucla’s new school, starting at 5 p.m. Several board members committed to attending. Although they acknowledged that currently they may not have answers to some of the questions the public may have, they intend to have information about the potential critical care access hospital (mini-hospital) available for those who stop by and want to discuss the idea.
Pierce and other board members are continuing to meet with lawyers to solidify their service plan for the mini-hospital.
“We want to get it to commissioners as soon as possible, definitely before the end of the month,” said board member Lorraine Garvey.
The service plan will be available to the public upon approval from county commissioners, at which point the board will file a petition to first organize a hospital district. Pierce said if the service plan is approved, a separate committee for West End health, with its own financial account, will need to be established.
Daniels asked the board to consider implementing a consent agenda to make meetings more efficient, as topics the board needs to discuss each month will expand throughout the campaign.
Board member Don Colcord requested that the budget be kept off of any future consent agendas.
“I just want to make sure we can always ask about the bills … We need to show people we are paying close attention to the budget every month,” he said.
Basin Cininc’s monthly board meetings are open to the public. They take place at Hopkin’s Field, Nucla’s Airport, at 5:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings can also be accessed via Zoom, a link for which can be found on the Basin Clinic’s website. Next month’s meeting will take place Apr. 21.
This story is funded by the Telluride Foundation through a grant dedicated to health carereporting for 2026.
