Since You Asked: Is Rideout Memorial Hospital closing?
Q: I am a spouse of an employee at Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville. I heard that the hospital is closing in December or will be sold. Our bread and butter comes from the hospital, and I would like to know if this is true or just rumors.
A: In an Oct. 1 newsletter you may have seen already, Fremont-Rideout Health Group CEO Terri Hamilton acknowledged hearing the rumors — and said there is no truth to them.
"We are not now nor have we been for sale," Hamilton wrote.
For the first time in 15 months, Fremont-Rideout showed "a positive bottom line" in August, amounting to $272,000. While the budget called for $418,000, "this is still a significant improvement!" Hamilton wrote.
"Although we have not yet met our budgeted profit goal, we have begun the financial turnaround," she wrote.
Hamilton attributed the improvement to consolidating services. The Appeal-Democrat reported in March that most services at Fremont Medical Center in Yuba City were being transferred to Rideout Memorial Hospital, resulting in a number of employees being laid off.
Q: When is Marysville going to repaint the intersection of Fifth and J streets coming into Marysville from the Fifth Street bridge? The paint on the roadway is worn out to the point where you can't see where to stop for the lights and the turn guides are no longer visible.
A: You're hardly the first to ask.
City Services Director Dave Lamon said last week that bids will be sought "any day now" on repaving Third Street, which joins the intersection in question. The intersection will be repainted as part of the project and might even be repaved, depending on the bids that come in, he said.
The project will begin this fall and be completed next year, Lamon said.
Good to see something will finally be done about Third Street, the city's unofficial bypass of downtown and one of the roughest streets around.
Since You Asked is published on Mondays. Send questions to reporter Rob Young at the Appeal-Democrat, 1530 Ellis Lake Drive, Marysville, CA 95901, e-mail him at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com or call 749-4710.
