Editor’s note: The Midland County Hospital District does not release its Board of Trustees meeting minutes until the board approves them at the following meeting. As a result, The Permian Press could not access the Sept. 25 minutes until after the Oct. 30 meeting.

What happened: The Midland County Hospital District Board of Directors met on Sept. 25 to approve the fiscal year  2026 operating and capital budgets, review hospital statistics and CMS star-rating information, and vote on the district’s FY26–FY27 strategic plan.

Key points:

  • FY26 budget: Trustees approved the district’s $451.6 million operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2026. With the adopted tax rate, the average Midland homeowner will save about $4.93 next year. Hospital leaders said overall patient activity should stay close to 2025 levels, but they expect growth in surgery, endoscopy, labor and delivery, NICU, and radiology.

The hospital attributes this growth to the opening of two new operating rooms, the addition of new procedures, targeted physician recruitment, expanded lab services, and continued population growth in Midland. The budget includes a 5 percent rate adjustment and higher reimbursement rates under a new Blue Cross Blue Shield contract, which the hospital expects to add about $4.6 million in revenue.

The hospital also projects increased income from additional cardiology and GI physicians and from higher demand for endoscopy and surgical services, about $5.1 million in added net revenue. The hospital expects improvements in clinical documentation, including the expanded use of AI tools, will generate another $1.2 million in reimbursement. They have budgeted salaries and wages to rise by $6.5 million, or 4.25 percent.

  • Hospital statistics: Trustees reviewed updated hospital projections showing growth across nearly all service areas. In FY26, the hospital expects 12,941 admissions (up 3.5 percent), 60,567 patient days (up 3.4 percent), 3,100 deliveries (up 3.7 percent), 130,615 outpatient visits (up 4.9 percent), 2,705 inpatient surgeries (up 5.7 percent), 7,190 outpatient surgeries (up 3 percent), and 71,000 emergency visits.
  • CMS star ratings: Staff presented an overview of how the federal CMS star rating system works. Hospitals receive a one- to five-star score based on 46 different measures, including mortality, safety, readmissions, patient experience, and timely and effective care.

Staff noted that the system has known limitations, including oversimplifying performance, inconsistently comparing hospitals, and failing to account for social and economic factors that can affect patient outcomes.

  • Strategic Plan: The board also approved the district’s FY26–FY27 strategic plan. The plan centers on improving quality and patient safety, strengthening care coordination, expanding behavioral health services, and addressing health disparities. The plan calls for reaching zero preventable harm and improving performance on key metrics tied to financial incentives.

Hospital leaders outlined plans to launch a Care Coordination Team in the first quarter of FY26 and to improve communication with post-acute providers to support smoother patient transitions after hospitalization. The district also expects that the comprehensive behavioral health system will improve its ability to collect and use data on social determinants of health to better address community needs.