Northampton County Executive McClure to put health center plan through bidding process
EASTON, Pa. – Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure will seek bids from health care providers for the employee health center he proposed last year.
McClure brought up the center last August, along with Integrity Health, the New Jersey-based company he wanted to run it.
Council balked, saying spending of that magnitude should proceed first with an "RFP," or request for proposal, to qualified providers and then competitive bidding. McClure pointed out that the county Home Rule Charter allows exceptions to competitive bidding, but at Thursday's council meeting, he said an RFP will go out Friday.
"We'll have something for you hopefully within a couple months to vote on," he told council Thursday, adding in jest, "It should be unanimous," referring to earlier objections about the lack of an RFP.
The request for proposals provides a chance for the two big local health chains, Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke's University Health Network, to bid. The startup costs have been estimated at $2.5 million, and Integrity was to be paid $800,000 annually.
Soliciting RFPs does not guarantee that a center will be created, just that proposals will be sought.
Using the center would be optional for employees under McClure's plan. They would keep their health insurance and their current providers if they wished, and the center would not provide all health services. McClure said Integrity Health would provide great care, and taxpayers would save millions of dollars.
Council was concerned about the process and about the expansion of the county government into health care.
Commissioner John Goffredo (councilmembers are known as commissioners) asked if the fee paid by the county could be based on demonstrated savings.
"That's how they're going to make money, saving us money," he said.
"Potentially in the interviews, we could explore that," McClure said.
Council also took its first look at Southside LERTA District II, a proposal to extend a state tax break program in part of South Bethlehem.
LERTA — Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance — allows for breaks on new construction on what is considered blighted property for a decade. The tax break starts at 100% and declines to 10% before it ends. The break is only on new construction, not the tax on the land.
The City of Bethlehem approved the LERTA last year to promote development, and it has also been approved by the Bethlehem Area School District. The county will vote in two weeks on whether it will also agree to accept lower tax payments for 10 years in turn for the prospect of development.
At a council Economic Development Committee earlier, Armando Moritz-Chapelliquen presented a survey that he said shows what his fellow Wilson Borough residents and others would like to see at the site of the former Dixie Cup plant.
Last year, McClure opposed giving a warehouse developer a LERTA at the site, and council agreed. The plan was dropped.
Moritz-Chapelliquen said his poll was done mostly door-to-door. He said the results show that residents and other stakeholders want to see community facilities and affordable housing at the site. He said the value of the study is in showing what the community wants to see at the site, and what it does not want to see: industrial uses that would bring more traffic.
"I think it would be irresponsible not to consider these results to some extent," Commissioner Tara Zrinski said in an email statement.
Moritz-Chapelliquen is a member of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, but he holds no official position with the borough, and while residents might want to see some kind of community facility on the site, land use is not set by referendum. It is dictated by property rights and borough zoning rules.
Allentown attorney Joseph Reibman leads the ownership group of the site, and he said last month that he is negotiating with a potential buyer. The site has been listed on a real estate website for $10 million.
Commissioner John Cusick said the ownership group has been "the biggest stumbling block" to developing the site.