Longmont mayor wants hospitals to refuse COVID patients from places not enforcing restrictions
“The mayor of Longmont said he wants hospitals to refuse treatment to COVID-19 patients from places not enforcing the state’s restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
In a letter sent Tuesday, Mayor Brian Bagley directed the city manager and city attorney to prepare an ordinance that would make it illegal for any hospital or health care provider to treat a resident of a county or municipality where officials have refused to comply with Gov. Jared Polis’ emergency orders.
“Longmont must protect its hospitals so as to guarantee that they will be able to provide adequate medical treatment for its residents when needed, and not be pushed beyond their capacity,” Bagley wrote.“
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Mayor of Longmont wants to ban Weld County COVID-19 patients from using city's hospitals
“The mayor of Longmont does not want the city’s two hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients from Weld County or any other county that refuses to comply with state restrictions.“
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“The mayor of the Boulder County city of Longmont drafted the proposed legislation in a letter to the city attorney and city manager on Tuesday. The letter is in response to Weld County Commissioners refusal to comply with Level Red restrictions placed upon the county by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
CDPHE announced Thursday that Weld County was among several other counties that would be moved to Level Red on the state’s COVID-19 dial. As of Thursday, Weld County has a two-week cumulative incidence rate of 1063.12 of 100,000 people, a percent positivity of 16.6% and a two-week COVID-19 case count of 3,442.
On Friday, the Weld County Board of Commissioners
said the county would not be enforcing the state's mandate, stating in part, “The state’s decision to move Weld County into the red portion of the dial does not change the stance of the Weld County Board of Commissioners with regard to enforcement of the state’s mandates. Instead, county government continues to do what it has done since March, which is promote and encourage residents and business owners to take individual responsibility and make decisions to protect themselves, their families, their community and their businesses.”
In the letter, Mayor Bagley states that “Longmont may face limited hospital capacity in the future as a result of Weld County’s refusal to comply with the governor’s emergency orders.”“
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Longmont mayor challenges Weld County's decision not to enforce state COVID restrictions | 9news.com
“The proposal ends with this wording:
"Whereas Longmont may face limited hospital capacity in the future as a result of Weld County’s refusal to comply with the governor’s emergency orders;
I direct the city manager and the city attorney to prepare an ordinance for first reading to be placed on the council agenda at our next regular session of city council. The ordinance shall state that: It shall be unlawful for any hospital (or healthcare provider) to provide medical services to any resident of a county or municipality wherein their elected officials have refused to comply with the governor’s emergency orders so long as there is a resident of a county or municipality that does comply with the governor’s emergency orders needing access to Longmont hospitals (or general healthcare services, medications, PPE equipment, etc.)."
"If we lack hospital space; beds, staff, medicine, PPE, we are going to treat those people residing in counties that do comply with the governor's orders," said Bagley.“
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“Both are in "Level Red," according to Colorado's new
color dial, which has the second-strictest restrictions, including closed dining rooms for all restaurants.
Weld County Commissioners and the Weld County Sheriff have said they won't enforce the state's restrictions.“
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“In response to Bagley's proposal, the Weld County Commissioners released the following statement:
"This Longmont mayor has taken a page out of Gov. Polis’ playbook by going after working families and compromising the mental wellbeing of the people who live in his community. The answer to this pandemic is not solely to close down small businesses the week of Thanksgiving; it is not to continually punish working-class families or the individuals who bag your groceries, wait on you in restaurants, deliver food to your home while you watch Netflix and chill; and it is certainly not to illegally deny healthcare to residents. But that is what this simple Mayor wants to do.
Weld County’s statement about promoting personal responsibility and not enforcing mandates has been woefully misunderstood by those living in fear and wishing to be governed by intimidation. Weld County is not an “anything goes” county, it is a “make the best decisions for yourself and your business” county, because we trust our residents to do what is best for themselves, their families, their businesses and their community. If the mandates put in place months ago worked, why are the numbers going up all along the Front Range?
Mayor Bagley is looking for someone/something to blame. Hear this: Weld County is not the problem.
It’s very easy for Mayor Bagley to sit in his office, still collecting a paycheck, and release an edict that denies equal protection of the law to the very people who shop and work in Longmont, and whose children attend Longmont schools."“
