Fight to reopen Pickens County Medical Center continues

CARROLLTON, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Residents in Pickens County filled the seats for a townhall meeting Thursday night to discuss the future of the Pickens County Medical Center.

A presentation given by Hospital Authority Board Chairman Shawn McDaniel was the main focus at the meeting. McDaniel said the board’s goal is to be transparent to all residents in attendance.

“The ER has got to be reopened because ever since it’s closed it’s been chaos here,” said Carrollton Mayor Mickey Walker.

Mayor Walker said the process to reopen PCMC has been a year long effort not only by the hospital board but by the city of Carrollton and state representatives.

The loss of the hospital has been detrimental as residents have to drive 40 minutes just to receive emergency medical care.

“When you sit here and watch them die at the front door of city hall, if you ain’t got no passion out of that you don’t have no heart. We’ve got to fix this,” said Mayor Walker.

According to Chairman McDaniel, PCMC closed its doors due to financial issues in March 2020 and a lack of customers utilizing the facility. McDaniel said at the time the hospital closed, the hospital was $5.3 million in debt. McDaniel said they have since reduced that debt to $1.7 million.

McDaniel said as a result of the debt, and because the facility is no longer up to code, it has been denied funding and assistance from loans or grants and from larger hospitals.

Now, the hospital board and city and state leaders are depending on the Alabama legislature and the Rural Hospital Emergency Designation Improvement Act, also known as the Jerry Moran Bill.

“There are a lot of different avenues that we are pursuing right now. We’re working with Senator Britt’s office and Tuberville has signed on also to try to get some amendments
to the rural emergency hospital program,” said District 61 Alabama House Representative Ron Bolton.

Rep. Bolton, who oversees the area, said it’s now just a waiting game and residents like Annie Jackson said although they appreciate the transparency from Thursday’s town hall meeting, time is ticking as they are afraid more lives could be at risk.

“Some of the thoughts were answered, but they were answered four years too late,” said Jackson. “We’ve been fighting this for a long time. We need help.”

Chairman McDaniel says the board is now planning to make renovations to the now vacant PCMC facility in order to bring it back up to code in hopes of getting the assistance they need to reopen.

In the meantime, they ask the community to join together as they continue to fight for the hospitals reopen.

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