By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.—Meeting by conference call Monday evening, the Henry County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution issuing a line of credit not to exceed $8 M to Henry County Medical Center (HCMC) which has ‘significantly altered its operations’ as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the resolution, the pandemic has resulted in ‘unanticipated deficiency in revenues’ for the hospital and the commissioners have ‘determined that it is necessary and advisable to issue up to $8M in aggregate principal amount of tax anticipation notes for the purpose of meeting appropriations’.
Addressing the commissioners, Hospital CEO Lisa Casteel said the pandemic “has certainly brought many things to us as a community”, noting that the hospital has been treating those affected by COVID-19 and that as a business the hospital also has been impacted.
Many local business have been impacted, she said, “and ours is one of them”, noting that in late March Gov. Bill Lee ordered hospitals to postpone all elective cases “and that accounts for 90 percent of our surgical volume”. Additionally, testing and screenings are reduced and utilization of the hospital emergency room has been negatively impacted. “We have seen a significant downturn in our volume,” she said, noting that the hospital has applied for all available stimulus funding.
In case of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the fall or as the state of Tennessee opens back up for business, she said, “We want to make sure we have the funding to guide us through that.”
Casteel noted that she and Henry Co. Mayor Brent Greer have been discussing the negative impact COVID-19 would have locally as hospital officials saw the coming impact of the pandemic globally.
Casteel and Greer said hospital officials do not know when they would need to access this line of credit, whether now or in the fall, but it was important to have the $8M ready. They also noted the hospital may not necessarily need all of that amount.
Greer noted the pandemic has affected the community and “we’re going to get through this thing and we’re going to get through it together.”
In other business:
–The commission unanimously authorized a resolution to apply to USDA Rural Development for financial assistance with the purchase of a new ambulance for the hospital. Estimated total project is $200,000 and Henry County will apply for a $30,000 Community Facilities Grant with $170,000 contributed from county funds.
Commissioner Paul Neal asked about the status of the county ambulance service and Casteel explained GMR (which operates the AMR ambulance service and Air Evac) will take over operation of the ambulance service without subsidy. The company will have the same level of response time, continue transferring to Jackson and Nashville, and continue requiring the same level of staff training.
–The commission unanimously approved a resolution authorizing application for the Governor’s Local Government Support Grant for fiscal year 2020-2021. The county is applying for $750,929 available to Henry County. Greer said funds would be utilized for a variety of purposes, including roof replacement at the county courthouse, other capital maintenance for county structures, road repair, public safety, Americans with Disabilities Act projects, and COVID-19 response.