The Weston County Hospital Board voted 4–3 to accept a 2026 benefits package that does not increase employee contributions, adopting administration’s recommendation despite questions about the hospital’s financials and audit schedule.

Board members reviewed three contribution scenarios presented by administration and consultant Gallagher, which projected a roughly 2–3% rise in medical premiums. Administration recommended a 50/50 split of the increase between the hospital and employees as a least‑cost, lowest‑risk option; instead, the motion approved by the board kept employee contributions at current levels, increasing the hospital’s budget obligation by an amount board members described in discussion as approximately $11,000 for the coming year.

Why it matters: hospital leaders said the district faces elevated financial scrutiny from state auditors and that premiums are driven higher this year by several unusually large claimants and stop‑loss calculations. Board members who opposed the no‑increase motion cited those fiscal pressures, while supporters said the small dollar impact per employee — estimated at a few dollars per month — justified protecting staff benefits.

Administration warned that premium and stop‑loss dynamics remain uncertain. The packet showed the hospital’s stop‑loss attachment at $75,000 per employee currently; staff discussed options to lower the attachment (for example to $60,000) and to increase stop‑loss cost sharing as a tradeoff to reduce premiums. New CFO Paul Meilano told the board he needed additional time to reconcile internal books and present apples‑to‑apples dollar impacts for each scenario before finalizing the budget narrative.

Formal action: A motion “to accept the proposal for a no employee contribution increase” was made and seconded and recorded as passed 4 to 3. The board directed administration to continue work on benefit figures and to present reconciled dollar totals in follow‑up materials.

Next steps: Administration said it will continue negotiations with Gallagher and will present updated, reconciled figures once internal financials are cleaned up. The board discussed but did not immediately schedule a special meeting to finalize enrollment details; staff said open enrollment could run in December with the first premium payment due in early January.

The board’s decision was procedural and budgetary — no change to plan carriers was made at this meeting.