In an attempt to prevent Greenwood Leflore Hospital (GLH) from completely shutting its doors, one leader from the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce is calling on citizens to flood local and state officials with calls and letters.
With the possibility of full closure becoming a growing reality after talks with the University of Mississippi Medical Center fell through, Beth Stevens, the Executive Director of the Greenwood Chamber of Staff, has sent out a memo encouraging the public to reach out to numerous elected officials with a letter asking them to save GLH.
Included in ways Stevens believes legislators can assist Greenwood Leflore Hospital at this time are to pass medicaid expansion, eliminate the hospital’s taxes for an unspecified period of time, and appropriate funds directly to GLH.
The pre-drafted letter, which was followed by the contact information of officials spanning from Governor Tate Reeves and Congressman Bennie Thompson down to local leaders in Leflore County and the city of Greenwood, reads as follows:
Dear ___________,
As a member of the Greenwood-Leflore community, I am writing to respectfully ask that the legislature take action now to save Greenwood Leflore Hospital and other failing rural hospitals across our state. Without immediate and decisive action, thousands of individuals in Greenwood and the broader Delta area will lose access to basic healthcare. This is unacceptable.
The ripple effects are dire and go well beyond our community. Lives will be lost. Communities will die on the vine. Economic growth will be nonexistent, as new businesses will not invest in a community without access to basic healthcare. Existing businesses will relocate. Mississippi will continue to lose our population to neighboring states.
Our state leaders can no longer ignore our state’s healthcare crisis. The overall health and vitality of our entire state depends on how our leaders respond to this healthcare crisis. We urge you to pass legislation to:
- Pass Medicaid Expansion
- Eliminate, reduce and/or defer the hospital tax for a specified period of time
- Increase supplemental payments to that of the average commercial rate
- Additional payments/funding for rural hospitals
- Appropriate dollars directly to GLH
We urge you to take immediate action. The time to act is now. Lives literally depend on it. Our communities depend on it. We are depending on you.
