Letter to the Editor

County can't afford to run two hospitals

Saturday, August 30, 2014

To the editor:

The hospital tax debate is still going on, but I need to acknowledge a mistake I made in my last letter and offer a few more opinions on this matter while I'm writing.

I realize now that the two hospitals are owned by Mississippi County and are being managed by an outside agency. When the news first broke in the Courier News about the tax, it was stated in the paper that the tax would be used to repair those facilities for the purpose of selling them to someone else. The letter written by the manager of the hospitals seems to be denying that now. I think they should be sold but sold as is, without requesting more money from the citizens. If they intend to continue owning them, then Mississippi County should close one and open an emergency clinic in its place. We are a small county and cannot afford to operate two hospitals just because Osceola and Blytheville want to butt heads with each other because we have two county seats, and refuse to concede to the other.

Remember, we had a chance to have Baptist come in and build a huge hospital and cancer center, but the two cities, Blytheville and Osceola, would not do what was best for all concerned.

I still say vote NO on the tax and force them to close one of the two hospitals so they can continue operating.

We must also realize that we are already paying a tax that's designated for the hospitals. It's part of your property tax or real estate tax. I'm not sure how much it is or where exactly we're being assessed, but the point is, there is already a tax on the books, and it's been poor management that has the hospitals in such bad shape. Shut one down and use the existing money for operating one hospital.

The manager of the hospital systems also mentioned the need to bring in more doctors from the outside because we don't have enough. The problem with that is the management isn't taking a look at what doctors are already available to them that already live here and practice here.

Case in point ... they brought in a podiatrist to handle any foot-care cases that come into the hospital, when there is a podiatrist right here in Blytheville. Dr. Duncan is a hometown girl who went to school and brought her knowledge and expertise back to her hometown because she loves Blytheville. When the hospital brought in another doctor, it hurts her. It's also disrespectful to her by not speaking to her first, to see if she might be better suited to help the hospital in that area and also save the hospital money at the same time.

I'm sure there are other doctors that could and would be willing to accept a larger roll in the current operation of our hospital.

But we are talking about a management company and a Quorum Court that has a history of not being able to manage what is available to them. They've allowed opportunities to slip through their grasp and have allowed the hospitals to deteriorate to a point that is totally unacceptable. Why have they waited so long to make these repairs? They should have been budgeted for, on a yearly basis.

Vote no on the hospital tax and demand that Mississippi County sell both hospitals or just close one completely and use the current budget to operate one hospital.

William Masterson
Blytheville