Filings in Elmore Community Hospital fight shed more light on "secret" plan

New court filings in the ongoing dispute over Elmore Community Hospital show that Baptist Health’s CEO was among those reviewing a draft request for proposals for hospital services before its public release.

The documents also show that Elmore County Probate Judge Jason Britt, a member of the Elmore County Health Care Authority, raised concerns months earlier about how officials were handling the Baptist proposal and questioned why they had not involved the authority sooner.

Ivy Creek of Elmore filed the records last week as part of its lawsuit against the Elmore County Economic Development Authority and the Health Care Authority. Ivy Creek operates Elmore Community Hospital and has accused ECEDA of interfering with its existing relationship with the county in an effort to replace Ivy Creek with Baptist Health.

The lawsuit stems from ECEDA’s efforts to recruit a new hospital provider—potentially Baptist Health—for Elmore County despite Ivy Creek’s existing lease with the Health Care Authority. ECEDA began working on an initiative known as “Project Mercury” before issuing a request for proposals in July seeking hospital services. Ivy Creek sued in August, arguing that ECEDA had no authority over its lease with the Health Care Authority and that the effort unlawfully interfered with its business relationship.

Circuit Judge Amanda Baxley subsequently issued a temporary restraining order halting the RFP process after finding that Ivy Creek had demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of its claims.

The latest filings provide new details about discussions before ECEDA issued the RFP.

An email attached to Ivy Creek’s latest filing shows that ECEDA CEO Richie Beyer sent a draft RFP for health care services on June 15 to a group identified as “Taskforce Members.” Baptist Health CEO Russ Tyner was among the recipients.

“Attached is a first draft of an RFP for healthcare services for the group to begin review and comment,” Beyer wrote.

ECEDA did not publicly issue the RFP until July.

Ivy Creek argues in its filings that Tyner’s inclusion in the review group supports its allegation that Baptist helped develop a process through which it could ultimately become Elmore County’s hospital provider.

ECEDA strongly disputed Ivy Creek’s characterization in a response filed Saturday, accusing Ivy Creek of presenting a “one-sided, misleading, and at times outright false narrative.”

ECEDA said Baptist is not an investor, tenant or sponsor at Seventeen Springs and that the two organizations have no financial relationship through direct funding, sponsorships or the development.

The new filings also provide details about concerns within the Health Care Authority before Ivy Creek filed the lawsuit.

In a September 16, 2025, email to fellow authority board members, Britt wrote that “recent disclosures” indicated ECEDA had been working on the Baptist proposal “for some time” and might have already secured property for a potential hospital.

“Yet, the Healthcare Authority Board is only now being asked to consider it,” Britt wrote.

Britt asked board members how long the proposal had been under development, who had participated before the authority learned of it, why ECEDA had not included the authority earlier and whether anyone had already made financial, contractual or property commitments with Baptist or other parties.

“From my perspective, ECEDA’s approach suggests that much of the groundwork has already been completed and that the Healthcare Authority is now expected to simply ‘sign off,’” Britt wrote. “That is not consistent with our oversight responsibilities, nor does it reflect the trust placed in this Board to safeguard the community’s interests.”

ECEDA disputes Ivy Creek’s claim that it effectively excluded the Health Care Authority from the process.

In its Saturday filing, ECEDA said Health Care Authority Chairman Frank Barnett and board member Lee Greer knew about the project by April 2025 and met with Baptist officials in early June. ECEDA also said Elmore County Commission officials, including Chairman Bart Mercer, participated in initial discussions with Baptist as early as February 2025.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for November 19.