YOUR SAY: Oconee Regional Medical Center default imminent, but unnecessary
The new year so far has not been so happy for our local hospital. Oconee Regional Medical Center began 2016 by having its long-term credit rating lowered by Standard & Poor's rating service. Citing its weak financial profile and related management concerns, this well respected credit rating service deems ORMC in serious danger of default. Default means Milledgeville and Baldwin County face the real possibility of losing our only medical facility.
Since 2010, 57 small, mostly rural hospitals in Georgia have closed, leaving thousands without adequate medical care. Most of these hospitals and many lives could have been saved if Georgia had only expanded Medicaid. Statistics show that small and rural hospitals in states that refuse to expand Medicaid have twice the risk of a financial crisis and closure than those in Medicaid expansion states.
In the midst of this financial crisis, Oconee Regional just hired a new CFO and CEO who have held meetings with our locally elected officials to discuss ways of saving our hospital. The fact is, these CFOs, CEOs, your city council and your county commissioners already know that the primary cause of Oconee Regional's financial problems is the rising cost of uncompensated medical care it provides to uninsured patients. Yet our local leaders and hospital administrators all remain silent as our governor and state Legislature defiantly refuse to accept $6 billion in federal dollars to pay the total cost of Medicaid expansion for the first three years. These politicians tell you that expanding Medicaid coverage would cost the state millions; however an analysis of Medicaid expansion conducted by Georgia State University in 2013 disputes these claims. In fact, this study indicated that expanding Medicaid would create approximately 3,300 new jobs and generate an additional $156,000 in new tax revenue for Middle Georgia.
More than half of the states that have not expanded Medicaid are in the South, comprising 90 percent of the uninsured. It is estimated that about 1,500 people in the state of Georgia will die each year due to the lack of Medicaid expansion. Sadly, due to political ideology and or political loyalty, it appears that a majority of Georgia's politicians are willing to accept the closure of these hospitals and the loss of lives as collateral damage in their effort to further their political agenda.
Understand, it's not just the uninsured who are dying, but several citizens who suffered catastrophic injuries or illnesses are reported to have died because the nearest medical facility was 35 to 50 miles away. In addition our local businesses will take a major hit if this hospital closes. As our chamber of commerce and development authorities work overtime attempting to lure new companies to this area, having your hospital tethering on the brink of bankruptcy is a major negative.
Sadly, the stakeholders, movers, shakers and community leaders who know the positive benefits of expanding Medicaid have chosen to remain silent. Is this community willing to sit passively by and watch as our hospital closes just so some politicians can score a few points? Remember, Central State Hospital did not leave Baldwin County because of the economy, it left because of the politics.
Our state elected politicians are refusing to accept a $6 billion refund of our federal tax dollars that we already paid. This money would be used to save our hospitals, yet they are attempting to use our struggling hospitals as a means to entice voters to vote for casino gambling. Remember, if voters did approve casino gambling, our hospitals, just like the HOPE scholarship, would be fighting for survival again in a matter of years. This, because our Georgia politicians just cannot resist a fresh pot of gold to squander.
Hudman S. Evans Sr., is a resident of Milledgeville.
This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 9:39 PM with the headline "YOUR SAY: Oconee Regional Medical Center default imminent, but unnecessary ."