In a recent Council meeting, I moved to reserve the full $4 million Asante paid the City for health care investments. My motion failed, and so did every alternative on the table. The question is still open, so when it comes back to council, I’ll push to set aside as much as possible for health care investments.
Like many in our community, I was saddened when Asante ended inpatient and birthing services at Ashland Community Hospital, 13 years after taking it over from the City. And the loss goes beyond that. We’ve lost providers, and it’s getting harder to access primary care. This is part of a larger regional and national health care crisis that we can’t solve alone.
But we can be deliberate with the one resource this transition actually put in our hands: the $4 million Asante paid the City in June, owed under our 2013 affiliation agreement once it stopped operating a general hospital. These funds won’t come again so we should invest them and not spend them on recurring costs. There are serious ideas circulating about how Ashland could invest in health care, with partners of course, because $4 million alone won’t solve the problem but just might make the difference between a viable investment and one that falls short. If we don’t find an appropriate health care investment within two years, then I’d favor using the money for other City investment needs like repairing or upgrading existing City facilities.
More reading: Ashland City Council to seek legal advice on how to use $4 million from Asante for health care; to regroup at future study session, Ashland.news, August 11, 2026
Bob Kaplan for Ashland City Council 