By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–If anyone doubted how important the local hospital and its obstetrics department is to the people of Henry County, they should have been at Tuesday night’s meeting of the County Commission. There was a standing room only crowd and the public forum portion of the meeting lasted an hour, with one person after another voicing their concern with the prospect of the obstetrics department closing.
In a surprise announcement May 26, the hospital CEO John Tucker said that HCMC will cease providing OB services on Sept. 1. Seeking ways to keep the hospital financially viable has been the main objective the last several months for Tucker and the board, he said. He explained that the hospital will reorganize the Paris Women’s Center to begin offering only gynecologic services.
County Mayor John Penn Ridgeway opened the meeting by noting, “This is a topic nobody wants to have to talk about. Why are we losing $4.5M a year on our OB department? It’s a complicated issue.” He said HCMC is reimbursed at a much lower rate than bigger hospitals in metropolitan areas. A total of 70 percent of local OB patients are insured by Bluecare, he said, and HCMC’s reimbursement rates have not seen an increase in ten years.
HCMC has asked Bluecare for a 500 percent increase across the board “and hopefully, they’ll hear whether payments will start by July 1,” he said.
Henry County and HCMC are having to “stand up against the big insurers and we don’t have the lobbyists that Nashville and Shelby County does.”
HCMC has called a community forum to discuss the OB issue for 5 p.m. Thursday at the Krider Performing Arts Center in Paris. Ridgeway encouraged everyone to be at the forum and to contact the governor’s office and their legislators as soon as possible to oppose HCMC’s dilemma.
Cheryl Conner, director of Tomorrow’s Hope Center, said since the news was reported about the OB department, “We have been bombarded with young girls” worried about their medical coverage. “Most of our clients are high risk and if we don’t do something, we will see a majority of our clients go to the ERs and they won’t get the care they need.”
Sarah Rowlett and Sara Horton spoke of their experiences with difficult childbirths and how much it meant to them to have their babies right here close to their families “and nurses who cared for me,” as Rowlett said. “We need to keep these services here.”
Horton said, “These doctors and nurses saved our lives. We were treated like family here. And just think of the jobs lost and community members who will move if we don’t have an OB department.”
Donna Milam said, “I want to thank everyone who jumped in to help the hospital” since the announcement was made, including Dr. Scott Whitby, Ridgeway and others. “But why did it take so long for the alarms to go off?”, she asked.
Former Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew, who now works for Congressman David Kustoff, said Kustoff’s office “is here to help in any way, shape or fashion”.
Riley Schoolfield, who is opening a new pharmacy in Paris, said, “Our healthcare system is broken but we can make changes.”
Dr. Whitby encouraged everyone “to put pressure on Nashville…This is just a mess. We can’t lose the OB department here.”
With 700 employees, HCMC is the county’s largest employer, HCMC Board Member Bruce Reed said. “The hospital lost $6M last year. $3 1/2M of that was from OB and another $1M was from the women’s center. If there’s anything we can do to save the OB we want to do that, but we want to keep the hospital open.”
Commissioners questioned why and how the decision to shut down the OB happened so quickly and without warning. They also wondered why doctors in the OB were not warned ahead of time.”
Commissioner Jay Travis recounted his wife’s experience with an emergency C-section at HCMC, “so you don’t have to tell me how important our OB department and women’s health is. I know from first-hand experience of the expertise our staff has. I consider this a slap in the face to anyone who wants to have a family in Henry County.”
Travis noted that hospital CEO Tucker has been here eight months “and he doesn’t know the kind of community we have here. We have a bake sale here for two months and raise a half million dollars. That’s the kind of people we have here.”
Later in the meeting, the commission approved an amendment authorizing the issuance of tax anticipation notes nt to exceed $4 for the hospital. The resolution amended the previous resolution passed in May due to higher anticipated interest rates. Reed noted the previous resolution presented an interest rate of 4 percent, “but it looks like it will be more like 4 1/2 to 6 percent”.
The $4M will be used for operating funds, he said.
In other business during the lengthy meeting:
–The commission authorized matching funds for work release program housing expansion. Application will be made to the Economic Development Administration Disaster Recovery program up to $4M and will commit local funds in the amount of $1M for the project.
Rob Goad, Director of the Paris-Henry Co. Industrial Committee, said one of the most successful programs in the county is the inmate work program at the sheriff’s office “and employers want an expansion of that program.” The project will involve building an 8,000 square foot structure on the sheriff’s office property .
–The commission tabled a resolution to approve a public comment policy across-the-board for all county government entities. The resolution will be discussed further in July.
–Commissioners approved numerous budget amendments and authorized a two-year extension of the county contract with Republic Services for garbage pickup. The extension includes a residential rate per household of $19.25 per month for the first year with a four percent increase for year two.
Ridgeway and commissioners agreed that Republic has improved recently, with Ridgeway noting that there isn’t much to chose from in Northwest Tennessee.
Photo: Cheryl Conner of Tomorrow’s Hope voices her concerns for her agency’s clients if the OB department closes. Shannon McFarlin photo.