Dakota Beacon

COVID-19  The region around ND is having some success “flattening the curve” of coronavirus cases.  While the large number of cases in Minnesota (742 as of April 2nd) receives the most attention, the number of cases per 100,000 residents is noticeably greater in ND, SD and Montana which all have similar rates of infection.  Cass County (Fargo), ND’s largest county, initially lagged in number of cases, but as the county's testing became more current, it moved to the front of ND counties.

FIRST SHOE DROPS  Whiting Petroleum, once the largest oil producer in ND, has declared bankruptcy.  Lenders now own and control the company.  The business will continue to operate, but there will be ripples — 8 of the 30 largest unsecured creditors are in western ND.  Whiting’s bankruptcy has been anticipated and a number of other producers are also lined up for restructuring.

SAND FOR SALE  “About 80% of the cost of drilling new (oil) wells is sand.” — The CEO of a bankrupt sand producer in Minnesota.  Many sand processing plants had already closed before the oil industry suffered twin disruptions: the Russia/Saudi Arabia price war and a cratering of demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.  Publicly traded sand firms have been crushed.  In mid-2018, Covia and Hi-Crush, companies with mines in Minnesota and Wisconsin, traded around $20 and $15, respectively.  Today, their prices are more like 67 cents and 27 cents.  The companies use leased railcars to ship sand to places like the Bakken oil fields in ND.  The leases have become unsustainable obligations.

THE MID-AMERICAN BUSINESS CONDITIONS INDEX sank to its lowest reading since September 2016.  The index covers a block of nine states with ND and Minnesota on the north and Oklahoma and Arkansas on the south.

ALTRU HEALTH SYSTEMS  “Altru is skidding into trouble — this should be more apparent when 2019 financial results are released.” — A comment in this newsletter on February 14th.  Last week, a spokesperson for the Grand Forks health system said lost revenues and increased expenses due to the coronavirus situation will be considerable.  Kristi Hall-Jiran said, “Suffice it to say it's going to be major.”  Altru’s unaudited 2019 financial statements report an operating loss of $21 million.  Included in the loss is $9 million of accelerated depreciation on a hospital which will be demolished when its replacement is complete.  Yesterday, Altru placed construction of the $300 million replacement hospital on hold.

SWEET JOBS?  Does CEO of a county medical center sound like a cushy position?  Maybe not, Jody Nelson, CEO of St. Luke’s Medical Center in Crosby, doubles as a nurse practitioner.  Ben Bucher, CEO of the Towner County Medical Center, doubles as the financial officer.  Both centers are among ND’s 36 small, rural critical-access hospitals, many of which barely hang on, although they qualify for cost-based Medicare reimbursement.  Filling vacancies for medical positions is the number one challenge in almost all of these hospitals.

EXTINCTION EVENT  The chief financial officer of the Jamestown Regional Medical Center said their cash surplus is dwindling quickly with a 63% reduction in medical procedures during the second half of March.  CEO Mike Delfs said the loss of revenue could lead to an “extinction event for rural hospitals.”

PROTECTION AT ANY COST  In an opinion in the Star Tribune, John Lennes, former general counsel for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, voiced a view being made with increasing frequency.  The current health policy attempts to shield the entire population from the coronavirus.  The author sees that policy as eventually having immense human and economic cost.  He advocates a policy that blends a health care response with one which is economically coherent.  Such a policy would protect vulnerable populations while allowing the majority to go about their business.  Sweden is pursuing such a policy, unlike its neighbors — the result of Sweden’s policy remains to be seen.

DANGEROUS OVER RELIANCE  The Minot Daily News stays very close to home — almost all the news it originates is of a purely local nature.  Editorials are a different story — the editor doesn’t hesitate to tackle national and international issues.  This week he bemoaned our nation’s over reliance on foreign manufacturing.  Medicine and China seemed particularly on his mind.  For example, the editorial stated 45% of our penicillin comes from China — none is produced in the U.S.  The risk is highlighted by the coronavirus crisis.

TEDDY’S LIBRARY  The sponsors of the T. Roosevelt Presidential Library have announced their preferred site.  The board of trustees chose a  60-acre site about 1.5 miles from downtown and close to the Medora Musical amphitheater and the entrance to the south unit of the National Park.  It’s not a done deal — a number of governmental units must give approval.  Library CEO Ed O’Keefe said fundraising is going “phenomenally well.”

WHO ARE THE VOTERS?  Mike Jacobs says the coronavirus may end a ND anachronism — no voter registration.  How’s that?  Voting by mail is expected to advance as a result of the pandemic.  Orderly absentee voting will eventually require voter registration.

HE WON THE BET  Kyle Funseth planted about 700 acres of corn in 2019 in the Northwood area.  Conditions were so bad in the fall, he left the corn unharvested.  It turned out to be rewarding decision.  He harvested his corn in March on dry, yet frozen fields, avoiding equipment sinking into the soil and causing deep rutting.  His corn’s test weight increased and its moisture level dropped, sparing the discounts of nearly $1 a bushel he would have received in the fall.  In ND, more than half of the 3.7 million acres of corn that farmers planted in 2019 was unharvested at the end of the year.

DAKTOIDS:  Dickinson State’s Interim President Stephen Easton is now the university's permanent president . . . Louise Erdich’s “The Night Watchman,” with a setting in the Turtle Mt. Reservation in ND, has made the NY Times Best Seller list . . . ND has less than 300 ventilators — most are in Grand Forks and Fargo.