There is no timetable for a decision on whether to sell Greenwood Leflore Hospital, Leflore County Chancery Clerk Sam Abraham says.
The Leflore County Board of Supervisors and the Greenwood City Council are only seeking information on a possible sale of the hospital, Abraham told the Kiwanis Club Thursday.
“We need to see where we are so we can decide where we’re going in the future,” he said.
The hospital is jointly owned by Leflore County and Greenwood. Changes in the health care law and sales of publicly owned hospitals in other Mississippi communities have prompted consideration of a sale.
The two governmental bodies have set a hearing for Sept. 13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Leflore County Civic Center to gather public feedback.
Abraham said he’s undecided on whether the facility should be sold.
“Money definitely, definitely can’t be the main factor,” he said. “We have to decide what can we do to provide the best medical care for the citizens of this community.”
He added, “I hope nobody has the idea that the county and city just want the money. That’s not the case.”
Abraham praised the hospital and its staff but pointed out that there are medical services that are unavailable in Leflore County.
“Health care is changing,” Abraham said. “I don’t know how long you can operate a single-member hospital in comparison with a consolidated hospital.”
Abraham discussed a number of other topics, including:
• Schools: Abraham said “there’s no question” that consolidation would benefit the Greenwood and Leflore County public school systems. An immediate benefit, he said, would be savings derived from a reduction in administrative personnel.
But, he said, school consolidation in Leflore County “will only be accomplished if the Legislature mandates it.”
Abraham said he was disappointed that the Leflore County School District raised taxes.
“I did everything I could to talk them out of it,” Abraham said. “I was unsuccessful.”
The 2.77-mill tax increase means that the owner of a $100,000 home will pay approximately $30 more in property taxes.
• Economic development: Abraham discussed three new projects in the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park. Those projects are the Clint Williams Co. peanut warehouse, the Mississippi Highway Patrol station and the APAC asphalt plant.
Abraham praised the economic development efforts of Angela Curry, the executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation, and Mayor Carolyn McAdams.
He said the county must find ways, including jobs, to attract new residents and convince young people who grow up here to return after they complete their education.
• County services: “We have a lot of things going, service-wise, for the residents of the county,” Abraham said.
Those include the county’s nine public parks. Another is the county’s increased spraying to combat mosquitoes.
“This West Nile virus has gotten serious, and we have to deal with it,” Abraham said.
This year, 120 cases of the mosquito-borne illness have been reported in Mississippi, including one in Leflore County. The virus has killed four people.
Abraham said creating a county budget “gets tougher and tougher” each year because of cuts in state and federal funds. Those cuts also make it more difficult to avoid a tax increase. But Abraham said he thinks government’s priority should be spending cuts.
“The taxpayer can only stand so much,” he said.
• Contact Charles Corder at 581-7241 or cccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
