The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors passed a motion Monday night to seek consulting companies to evaluate Oktibbeha County Hospital, one of the steps required in a sale of the county-owned hospital.
District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer, the self-proclaimed “poster child” for pursuing the hospital’s sale, maintained his position through a hail of citizen opposition.
“My intention is not to destroy health care in Oktibbeha County,” said Trainer. “I know you aren’t going to believe that tonight, though … All I am asking is to just try and look at this plan optimistically. Let’s look at this from a different perspective. Let’s look what we can do to enhance over and above what we got. We have some exciting possibilities.”
The motion was passed 3-2 with Trainer, District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams voting to approve, while District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson and Board President Marvell Howard voted no.
About 60 people attended the Board meeting, almost all in favor of retaining the hospital. No one in the crowd Monday night spoke on behalf of selling OCH.
With several sentimental family stories and one OCH doctor moved almost to tears, emotion was thick for most of the meeting. Most demanded to know why the county would want to sell the hospital. Trainer continually told the crowd how exciting the possibilities were, and the crowd continually pressed him for details. To those inquiries, Trainer replied, “That’s what July 9 is for.”
On that day, Trainer is bringing in Richard Cowart, a representative of Nashville’s Baker Donelson firm, to answer questions about the possibilities the county has in regards to OCH at the scheduled public education session.
One man questioned Trainers’ decision of choosing Cowart, who he said has been linked to the sale of the hospital in Oxford being sold to the Baptist Hospital group, and many said they felt like if a consultant was already selected, then in their eyes the board was already taking action to move forward with the sale.
But Trainer stressed that Cowart’s presence at the July 9 meeting has nothing to do with which consulting firm would evaluate OCH’s sale prospects.
“We’ve talked to probably five different groups … We can get anyone to come in and do it,” Trainer said. “We can let the hospital select someone. The data is going to be what it is going to be. It will speak for itself.”
Trainer said he was introduced to Cowart through Mayor Parker Wiseman.
Retired MSU professor and former Starkville Alderman Frank Davis gave a presentation highlighting his grassroots campaign to keep OCH in county possession. Davis and his wife have been collecting signatures across the county, and a largely pro-OCH crowd at the meeting Monday night gave his presentation more validation.
Supervisor Montgomery said he has talked to people on both sides of the issue, and ensured the crowd that the board was in no way trying to say OCH was inadequate.
“To say we are talking badly about OCH is totally not true. I commended Mr. Hilton and Mr. Andrews,” he said. “I shared with them concerns from people that this hospital needs to, at the very least, be looked at. Do we know everything we need to know about OCH? Not everyone thinks it’s the best option to keep OCH. You need both sides of it.”
One woman said people in favor of the sale should have shown up last night if they were really concerned, citing plenty of advertising in the newspaper regarding the meeting.
“Where are the people that want to sell tonight?” she asked. “That should tell you something right there.”
Trainer stuck to his guns, but said that he understands the weight of the issue and is confident regardless of which way the decision goes, an options analysis will benefit OCH.
“This is one of the most critical issues that this county has ever faced, and I am glad to be a part of it regardless of how it turns out,” he said. “Whatever happens it is going to make this county hospital situation better … If we keep it after we have all the data, it’s going to make us better. If we decide to do something else, it’s going to make us better.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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