Public raises concerns on proposed hospital district amid early voting

The parking lot at Drifter’s Hall was full April 21, as several dozen people attended a public information meeting hosted by local business owners. The discussion, led by Calhoun County residents Ashley McGrew and Alysha Dudley, focused on addressing concerns regarding the proposed hospital district.

The meeting marked the first organized opposition to the creation of the hospital district, which was added to the May 3 ballot after a citizen petition. If approved by voters, the district would levy a property tax of 10 cents per $100 valuation to help fund the county-owned Memorial Medical Center. This tax proposal drew strong reactions from attendees.

“I talked to a couple of businesses here in town — it’s all public record,” Dudley said. “The businesses you see daily, you can see how much this is going to affect them. We’re not going to eat the cost. I’m sorry, but most business owners take their costs and divide them. That’s how they come up with their numbers.”

“I had asked if this could be part of our sales tax, that way everyone could be involved,” said property owner Vicki Lilly. “We’re a county of 19,000 people. Of those, we might have 15,000 homeowners, and even that is high. But we can’t add to our sales tax because we’re capped at 8.5%. I own five properties in Calhoun County and I’m going to be hit hard. I’m a landlord and I do need to pass that along to my renters. Unfortunately, that means they’re going to pay more than what their home is truly worth.”

Dudley, along with retired teacher Cindy Krause, presented several examples of how the hospital district could impact local businesses, including daycares and construction companies, and how it could affect renters.

“There were better ways to do this tax,” Dudley said. “I think the county should have imposed a 3% tax. That would’ve given them the money they needed — the raises that needed to happen. I think that would have been a better revenue source, and this hospital district is going to hurt a lot of businesses.”

While Dudley, McGrew and Krause emphasized that they support the hospital and don’t want to see it close — and said many attendees felt the same — they expressed concern over what they described as a lack of transparency and planning by hospital leadership.

“This isn’t about me or you; this is about all of us trying to get to a place where we can have a hospital and fiscal responsibility,” McGrew said. “That $108 million is what Memorial Medical Center plans to recapture through billing, insurance and other levers. At the bottom are their expenses. So, $108 million in revenue and $110 million in expenses leaves a $1.9 million deficit for the year — and that’s assuming they recover that full amount. A budget is fluid. Things happen. They may recover more, or they may lose more. But that’s what they’re projecting going into 2025.”

“The petition was certified. It went to commissioners court. Once certified, it went back to commissioners court. There was a lot of discussion the day of the vote, and all the petition signatures were confirmed,” Krause said. “So, everything has been done properly leading up to this election. Nothing is going to stop it.”

Other attendees questioned how quickly the tax rate could rise. State law limits annual increases to 8%, up to a maximum of 40 cents per $100 valuation, but some expressed concern about how fast that increase could occur. Others raised concerns about the hospital’s costs related to indigent and charity care, which it is legally required to provide as a county hospital.

“I can’t help but wonder why the county didn’t demand a top-to-bottom audit of the hospital before creating another tax district,” resident Lee Strubble said. “There are probably some people who need to be laid off. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s all moving too quickly.”

Some audience members expressed confusion about the hospital’s budget and operations, which received little to no response due to the absence of hospital representatives. The meeting occurred the same day as Memorial Medical Center’s 75th anniversary celebration. McGrew provided written responses from Memorial Medical Center CEO Erin Clevenger, but no county or hospital officials spoke during the main presentation. Calhoun County Judge Vern Lyssy did speak with attendees after the meeting concluded.

“Over the last couple of years, even at the plants, we’ve seen belt-tightening measures. ‘Fixed costs’ is the phrase of the day,” resident Eric Lee said. “But I was just curious: from someone on the board, do they have any performance indicators or utilization models? If there had been an audit — internal or external — it would be in the hospital’s best interest to make that public if they’re asking for more money.”

Many attendees left the meeting firmly opposed to the district’s creation, but some expressed hope that the community dialogue could lead to better solutions for hospital funding.

“I don’t have the answers, but now that we’re all on board, let’s try to work together to figure this out with the hospital,” Krause said. “I truly believe there isn’t a person in that hospital who wouldn’t tell us they’ve been dealing with this financial issue forever — but they haven’t invited us in. We need to listen to each other.”