Habersham County Chairman Bruce Palmer and Commissioner Jimmy Tench brought a message to Habersham Medical Center earlier this month – we cannot go on like this any more.
Palmer and Tench attended the Hospital Authority meeting Nov. 15 and indicated a desire for a joint meeting with their two boards to discuss the future.
“We can’t lose $1.2 million per month,” Palmer said. “THe taxpayers are on the hook for that bill and something different has to happen. What it is, I’m not sure yet, but we have to figure that out together. We have to be on the same page.”
The hospital is down more than $3 million for the year, and the facility’s budget even expected to lose $134,688 at this point in the year.
Instead, it lost $1,144,626 in October alone.
“I understand a lot of hospitals are in trouble, and it’s a vital part of a community,” Palmer said. “But you just can’t lose a million a month. They used all the CARES Act funds just to break even and now that money is gone.”
Palmer said he would like to see a meeting happen in December to address these concerns as soon as possible.