Letter to the Editor

County only needs one hospital

Friday, November 11, 2011

To the editor:

Through Aug. 31 of this year, it cost over $1,000,000 more to operate the Osceola Hospital compared to the Blytheville Hospital. By the end of this year, the Osceola Hospital will likely have a deficit operating expense of over $2,000,000. For this same period, the Blytheville Hospital had twice as many patients.

These are facts and anyone can go to the Blytheville Hospital and get the balance sheet for this period of time to see for themselves.

Mississippi County residents paid over $700,000 to the hospitals in tax dollars in 2011. Since 2009, the figure is approximately $3,500,000 of our tax dollars.

We need to have only one hospital in Mississippi County and the facts show that it should be in Blytheville.

With only one hospital we could provide better service to the patients of all of Mississippi County, with the obvious ability to attract more doctors, surgeons and specialists.

And finally, maybe the Quorum Court won't have to keep baling them out.

Do we really need a 3-mill increase in county taxes?

Edwin Holstead
Blytheville