POCATELLO - Gary Hill, division president for Legacy Hospital Partners, said the joint venture proposed between his company and the Portneuf Health Care Foundation for the future governance of Portneuf Medical Center is the model they have found to be most effective.

Under the proposed joint venture, the Bannock County Commission will donate the assets of PMC to the PHCF which will give them to the joint venture, called the Community Benefit Organization. In return, PHCF will get 23 percent ownership in the CBO.

Plano, Texas-based Legacy will give $200 million to the joint venture and receive 77 percent ownership in the CBO. Those funds will be used to pay off PMC's debt and fund completion of the new hospital on Hospital Way.

Although ownership weighs heavily toward Legacy, governance, or control of the joint venture will be split evenly. Each partner will select five members of the CBO board of directors and a block voting system will be used, meaning nothing will be passed if a majority from both partners' board members doesn't approve it.

Legacy has also said two of its board members will be appointed from the community.

"It's how all our partnerships work. This is how we are accustomed to doing it," said Hill, who will be the top Legacy official in the joint venture should voters approve it on Nov. 4. "We believe health care is a local business."

Legacy is a relatively new company that was formed earlier this year. It's core management, however, has a lengthy history together. As part of Triad Hospitals, Legacy's core management group negotiated numerous joint venture similar to what has been proposed in Pocatello.

In fact, the group developed the shared governance model and found it to be the most effective option.

"We feel it's very important to have the community's input in running the hospital," Hill said. "To ensure that, governance has been set up to so that input is equal from both partners. Each community is unique and the hospital needs to operated with that in mind. What might be needed in New Jersey isn't necessarily what is need in Idaho."

- Jimmy Hancock