One local businessman weighs in
The statewide epidemic of rural hospital closures was the topic of discussion July 25 during a press call organized by the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC), and a McKenzie official was among five panelists offering comments and answering questions from callers.
Gary Simmons, local business owner and chairman of the McKenzie Industrial Development Board, served on the panel, along with Dr. Richard Lindrooth, professor in the Department of Health Systems, Management and Policy at the University of Colorado in Denver; Kassandra O’Sullivan, former social worker at the recently closed Cumberland River Hospital and Jamestown Regional Medical Center in Celina; and Natalie Boone, Natalie Boone, EMS and EMA director of Clay County.
TJC rep. Keila Franks, who moderated the press call, pointed out that 12 rural hospitals in Tennessee have closed their doors since 2010.
Lindrooth said that states that have not expanded their Medicare programs since 2014 have been six times more likely to lose hospitals than states that did expand Medicare.
“As an economist, the benefit of Medicaid expansion ties [funding to] service provision, so hospitals that provide more services get more revenue,” said Lindrooth. “This is more efficient than just a block [grant].”
Landers added that the impact has been greater in counties with high uninsured rates, such as Carroll and Clay Counties, where between 16 and 20 percent of residents currently do not have any kind of health insurance.
Simmons provided some of the back story behind the 2018 closing of McKenzie Regional Hospital (MRH), detailing how industry, particularly the garment industry, in Carroll County was decimated in the wake of NAFTA, driving up unemployment and the county’s uninsured rate.
Simmons commented that the excellent medical professionals and administrators at MRH tried their best to improve services and maintain profitability, but, in the end, it was not enough to keep the hospital open.
“They just couldn’t break even,” he said.
Simmons added that the loss of MRH has hurt McKenzie’s efforts in recruiting industry to that part of the county and almost caused one industry, namely Pottery Direct, to change plans to establish operations in Carroll County.
“I think it’s a shame that this state is run on a political basis, rather than a good management basis.” Gary Simmins
“We almost lost the plant when we lost the hospital,” said Simmons. “And in trying to recruit more industry, we do not have the hospital as a selling point for coming to our community.”
Simmons indicated that much of the blame for Tennessee’s lost hospitals lies with state legislators.
“We have been used as a political pawn,” said Simmons. “I think it’s a shame that this state is run on a political basis, rather than a good management basis. We need to do everything we can do to not have the citizens of Tennessee lose another hospital.”
O’Sullivan spoke on how the closing of the hospital and medical center in Clay County has negatively impacted those communities.
“This is personal,” she said. “I think it’s really, really said it has come to this. It is life threatening at times. [It is] almost 30 minutes to get to the nearest hospital.”
Boone pointed out that ambulance transport times in Clay County have more than doubled.
“We’ve had instances where surrounding counties had to come into our county to get our patients, taking up to 45 minutes to one hour just to get an ambulance, and nearly double that to get to a hospital,” said Boone.
She added that the loss of so many rural hospitals is creating a taxing situation for the larger hospitals in the state’s bigger cities.
