New Partnership to reopen Quitman Community Hospital after being closed for nearly 5 years
Published on Friday, September 10, 2021
For nearly five years, the people in Marks, MS and Quitman County have been at least 30 minutes away from receiving emergency healthcare.
Soon that will change as the Quitman Community Hospital plans to reopen, thanks to a partnership with the nearby Panola County Medical Center. The new Quitman Community Hospital will have the capacity to provide emergency care as well as beds for acute patients, including those with COVID-19.
The Quitman County Board of Supervisors approved the deal on September 7, 2021. The hospital, which was the county’s largest employer with 99 people, closed in October, 2016.
Quitman Board of Supervisors President Manuel Killebrew said, “This means 75-100 good paying jobs will be returning to the county, and it goes without saying, we need a hospital close by to provide the medical services for our citizens.”
Lonnie Moore, a local nurse practitioner, owns the former hospital building and is the president of the Delta Medical Foundation.
“The practical care we give every day needs follow-up and ease of access to specialists that can tend to higher acuity levels,” he said. “But having a launching point from our own hospital will save lives and create new outcomes for patients.”
Data from the National Rural Accountable Care Consortium shows the need for the hospitals reopening, the Panola County Medical Center said. According to the data, 58 percent of the county’s nearly 7,000 residents deal with high blood pressure, 45 percent have high cholesterol, 31 percent live with heart disease and 17 percent manage diabetes.
On top of the county’s health issues, 35.6 percent of its population reportedly live in poverty, the median annual household income of the county being just $25,383, the Panola County Medical Center said.
The re-opening of the hospital will help to relieve some of that medical and economic strain, according to Manuel Killebrew, President of the Quitman County Board of Supervisors.
“This means 75-100 good-paying jobs will be returning to the county, and it goes without saying, we need a hospital close by to provide the medical services for our citizens,” Killebrew said.
(Source: Fox 13 Memphis)
