Community Leaders Address

Leaders from Lewis County Government and the City of Hohenwald have been working diligently to try and find a solution to the absence of a hospital and 24-hour emergency health care facility in our community.

This past Spring, County Commissioners created the “24-Hour Emergency Health Care Facility Study Committee”, which is composed of county and city officials, as well as local residents. The committee consists of County Mayor Jonah Keltner; County Commissioners Kyle Bobo, Caleb Feichtinger and Bradley Loveless; County Trustee Mike Webb; City Mayor Danny McKnight; and City Councilman Don Barber. The committee also consists of Lewis County residents Susan Hensley (Nurse Practitioner), Thomas Reed (retired RN), Jessica Putney (employee of The Joint Commission), and Linda Grimes (retired CNA).

Since its creation, the committee has met regularly with health care professionals such as Dr. Martin Chaney (CEO of Maury Regional), Nathan Miller (Interim President of Maury Regional Medical Group), Hugh Bennett (Director of Lewis Health Center) and Bill Jolley (Vice-President of Tristar Health Alliance).

The committee has found the biggest obstacle our community is facing regarding the opening of a hospital or a 24-hour emergency health care facility is how to pay for it. Health care is extremely expensive, and the equipment and staffing alone to operate such a facility will cost millions of dollars. Therefore, a large subsidy from the government would be required for it to just break even.

The committee recently received a written quote from one non-profit health care company, and for them to provide basic, non-ER services 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, it would require an annual government subsidy of nearly $1.5 million to have a Doctor there at all times.

Having a Nurse Practitioner onsite 24-7 at such a facility would require a government subsidy of just over $1 million each year. Those costs are equivalent to a 60-cent county property tax increase for a Doctor, or a 40-cent county property tax increase for a Nurse Practitioner.

On September 11, 2023, the committee will be meeting with city and county officials, as well as State Representative Jody Barrett and State Senator Joey Hensley. The meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of the historic Courthouse. Representatives from the offices of Congressman Andy Ogles, US Senator Marsha Blackburn and US Senator Bill Hagerty are also scheduled to attend, along with Bill Jolley from Tristar, representatives from Maury Regional, as well as other health care officials from across the state. “Our goal for this meeting is to determine if there are any state or federal programs available to help us fund a small hospital or 24-hour emergency care facility here in Lewis County,” stated Mayor Keltner. “This is the biggest issue our community is currently facing, and local leaders are focused on doing all we can to address this problem.” The meeting on September 11th is open to the public, and residents are encouraged to attend.