Newspaper Page Text
OUR IQBTH YEAR N 0.16
McKinley Compiles Many Statistics
Mayor Shows Reasons
Why Perry Needs E. R.
Mayor James
McKinley summarized
all of the reasons why he
felt the Perry Hospital
emergency room should
be re-opened Monday,
and stated that he
believed the county
hospital authority should
have considered the
factors before closing the
facility.
" Presently the
population of Perry is
about 10,000 persons/'
McKinley said.
''Projected population
increases have been
surpassed and indicators
point to an increasing
Riley Hunt Leads Drive
Petition Campaign On
E.R. Draws Signatures
Riley Hunt, immediate
past president of the
Perry Chamber of
Commerce, told The
Home Journal Tuesday
he would present a
petition containing 2,000
signatures when the
Houston County Hospital
Authority convened for a
regular meeting at the
courthouse here Wed
nesday night.
The petition cal Is on the
Perry Hospital medical
stats, the hospital
authority and county
commissioners to re-open
the hospital emergency
room which was closed
by a 5-3 authority vote on
To Meet Next Thurs.
CofC Will KR.
Change , Branch Says
Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce President
Bobby Branch said this
week that he feels the
chamber's board of
directors will adopt an
official resolution calling
tor the re-opening of the
Perry Hospital
emergency room at their
regular board meeting
next Thursday.
Branch said, "Our
chamber membership is
very concerned about the
closing of on-call
physician service at the
hospital. I am sure the
board will take an official
stand but not before
studying closely all areas
of the problem."
Branch said he has
been criticized by some
chamber and non
chamber members
because the chamber has
not yet adopted an official
stand on the emergency
room.
When asked about the
criticism, Branch said, "I
have told everyone that
asked me about this
situation that the
The Houston Home ihumal
population for Perry and
the southern part of
Houston County."
McKinley said the
geographic location of the
Perry Houston County
Hospital is condusive to a
central location for
emergency room
treatment.
He said the time frame
from Perry to Warner
Robins is about 30
minutes, or twenty miles.
He added that the
southern most part of the
county's time frame
would be about 45
minutes to Warner
Robins, depending on the
April 11.
Hospital Authority
Chairman Glynn
Greenway agreed to hold
the meeting at the
courthouse in response to
a request contained in a
letter from Mayor James
McKinley.
In the letter to
Greenway dated April 13,
McKinley said many
citizens had indicated a
desire to meet with the
authority, and he was
therefore requesting that
the meeting be held at the
courthouse in order to
accommodate them.
The mayor said he
expected as many as 200
chamber will most
certainly adopt an official
stand once the board gets
together. If there are
those who feel I have not
acted quickly enough, so
be it. I do not believe in
taking a strong stand
until we have all the facts
and I assume those
critical of my action so
tar are aware that many
facts on the emergency
room situation are
continuing to emerge."
Branch further added,
"I have stated to the
county commissioners
and members of the
hospital authority on two
occasions in official
meetings that the
chamber is deeply
concerned about our
emergency room. There
is no doubt about the
chamber's concern and
interest in this matter
and we will take the
proper action next week
to have our case
presented and heard to
the commissioners and
the hospital authority."
Georgia’s Number One Weekly Newspaper
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GA. THURSDAY APRIL 20, 1978
time of the day.
The mayor said time is
a critical factor in an
emergency situation, and
is directly proportionate
to the geographic location
of the emergency room
and the availability of an
ambulance or other
means of transportation.
"Houston County has a
total of three ambulances
with two being located in
Warner Robins and one in
Perry," McKinley said.
"Considering the
geographic and
demographic demands,
the emergency room at
the Perry hospital is
citizens to show up at the
meeting held last night.
Voting to close the
Perry emergency room
facility when the
authority met in Warner
Robins on April 11 were
Eleanor Granum, Barry
Jones, Terry Horton,
John Love|oy and Grover
Hicks.
Don Parkinson, Jim
Ray and Billy Beckham,
all of Perry, voted
against closing the
emergency room.
The hospital authority
votes were cast after a
joint meeting between
county commissioners
and authority members
that lasted about an hour
and a half.
In launching the
petition drive here last
week. Hunt said, "I for
one am not going to take
this lying down and I
don't believe the majority
of the people in Perry and
the south end of the
county are going to let
this go by without a fight.
"I feel we can gather
thousands ot signatures
on our petitions and that
is what we will be seeking
to do the next few days."
The petition, which has
been circulated by Hunt
and others all over south
Houston County, reads as
follows:
"We the undersigned,
do hereby request the
By Perry Realtors
Youngest, Oldest
Homeowners Sought
The Perry Board of Realtors is looking for
the youngest and oldest home-owner in
Perry. The board will present two special
awards to the persons determined to be the
oldest and youngest home-owners.
If you feel you qualify for either category,
call 987-0763 for more information.
The board is sponsoring this project as part
of “Private Property Week” in Perry.
i
necessary in order to
cope with the in
sufficiency of emergency
transportation for the
southern part of the
county.”
In citing another
reason why the Perry
emergency room should
be re-opened, McKinley
said 70 percent of
Houston County
establishments em
ploying 25 or more per
sons are located in the
Perry service area.
He said in the past five
years the Perry area has
accounted tor 70 percent
of all new and expanding
Perry Hospital medical
staff, the Houston County
Hospital Authority and
the Houston County
Commissioners, to take
immediate action to do
whatever is necessary to
re-open the Perry
Hospital emergency
room on a full time
basis.”
"I hope that our group
of concerned citizens
behind this petition effort
can set up a meeting in
the near future with the
Perry medical staff to
discuss this situation,”
Hunt concluded. "In
other words, we want to
take any and all steps
necessary to get our
emergency room back
open on a full-time
basis.”
Mayor McKinley
confirmed Tuesday that
he and members of city
council met with Perry
doctors Monday night at
the Perry Hospital.
The mayor declined,
however, to reveal what
was discussed at the
meeting. Although the
mayor did not disclose
specific details about the
meeting, he did say that
he thought he and
members of council had a
clear understanding of
the Perry medical staff's
position in their
relationship with the
hospital authority.
industry for the county.
In 1976, according to the
mayor, 86 percent of all
manufacturing em
ployees worked in the
Perry area.
"Considering all these
factors, the health and
safety of the majority of
industrial workers in the
county is being jeopar
dized by closing the
emergency room at
Perry," McKinley said.
McKinley said county
board of education
figures indicate there are
3,177 students and 185
teachers located in the
Perry area. Additionally,
he said Westfield School
in Perry accounts for 482
students and 29 teachers.
"Therefore, I say the
Perry area is responsible
for the health and safety
of 3,659 students and 214
school teachers,"
McKinley said.
McKinley said the
Houston County
Correctional Institute is
located in Perry and
serves 107 inmates and 37
staff persons. He said the
emergency treatment of
inmates has been
deferred to the Warner
Robins hospital for more
than two years due to
instructions to the in
stitute that the Perry
Hospital would not
provide emergency
treatment.
The mayor said the
round trip distance from
the institute to Warner
Robins was 40 miles,
while the same trip to the
Perry Hospital was about
two miles.
"Thus far this fiscal
year, the institute has
spent nearly SIO,OOO at the
Warner Robins
emergency room,"
McKinley said.
The mayor said there
are two nursing home
facilities in Perry, and
that jointly they are
responsible for 103
elderly patients and 65
staff persons.
Concerning tourism,
McKinley said Perry is
fortunate in having In
terstate 75 passing
through the city with
30,000 cars utilizing the
interstate highway daily.
He said nearly four
fifths of the motels and
hotels in Houston County
are located in Perry,
which provides 1,100
rooms. Given an oc
cupance rate of 80 per
cent, which translates
into 880 rooms, according
to McKinley, there would
be 1,760 persons staying
overnight in Perry
without emergency room
services located in the
city.
The mayor said
statistics obtained from
the hospital authority
indicate that in 1977 5,215
emergency room
treatments were
provided at the Perry
Hospital.
He said the data in
dicated that the Warner
Robins Hospital provided
20,031 emergency room
treatments during the
same period, indicating
contd. page 2-A
1
: .’ ‘ [ jfr
•-.jy t | «%»«&>s(:
fH VsjaV v / |& m>. japPl :T*
.if 'i^
' "'
Sfcu, 3*4. % * -^BPmM^?».v
■f[ ':W 's?s'■¥ ■ ?M ‘
* i
President’s Grandson Here
Mrs. Yates Green of the New Perry Hotel greets a special luncheon
guest at the hotel last Saturday. The young guest is James Earl Carter IV
of Plains, Ga., grandson of President Jimmy Carter. James Earl was at
the hotel with his mother. Mrs. Chip Carter, and his grandmother, Mrs.
Ben Griffin of Hawkinsville. Mrs. Carter was in Perry to meet her mother
at the hotel for lunch. She had attended an alumni reunion at Wesleyan in
Macon. Secret Service agents and other security personnel could be seen
in the hotel and on the grounds surrounding the hotel, (see related photos
inside)
*** ** ' ■* * *
Airport
| Paid For |
After six years of hard
work and careful plan
ning, the $907,228 ex
pansion program at
Perry-Ft. Valley Airport
is finished and paid for.
Airport Authority
Chairman M.E. "Buddy”
Stone said Tuesday that
final payments were
made last week when
three checks totaling
$45,326 were mailed to
two contractors and a
consulting engineer.
Os the total final
payments, Stone said one
check was issued to
Cherokee Construction
Co. for $23,078, another
was issued to Lowe
Engineering tor $14,435,
and the third check was
made out to Sherkade
Construction Co. for
$7,883.
The airport expansion
project included the
building of a new 5,000-
foot runway, converting
the old runway into a
taxiway, a new runway
lighting system, a
rotating beacon, a visual
approach slope indicator,
new paving tor aircraft
parking, expanded
parking lots for cars and
ditching to improve
drainage.
Stone said he talked
last week with Federal
Aviation Agency experts
in Washington about
installing a non
28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS 15‘
directional beacon for
instrument landings
when visibility at the
airport is limited by bad
weather.
He said the FAA agreed
to send experts here to
review the project and
help authority members
select what they consider
to be the best site for the
beacon.
Authority member Bob
McLendon explained on
Feb. 20 that the beacon
would cost about $5,000
plus an additional SSOO to
install.
McLendon said the
Georgia Department of
Transportation has
agreed to pay half of the
total cost involved for
purchasing and installing
the beacon.
He noted, however, that
the state's agreement to
pick up halt the tab
hinges or. the
requirement that the
beacon will be installed
on land belonging to one
of the four governments
PANTHER BBQ FRIDA Y
Perry Partther
Booster Club is spon
soring a barbeque
Friday, April 21. The
meal will be served
from 4:30 p.m. until 8
p.m. from tn*» high
V
that operate the airport.
The facility Is owned
and operated jointly by
Perry, Ft. Valley,
Houston County and
Peach County.
"I talked with FAA last
week," Stone said
Tuesday. "They believe a
non-directional beacon
for instrument landings
will be of great benefit at
the airport, especially for
jet traffic."
Stone said authority
members are hoping to
find a site in close
proximity to the airport.
He said the ideal distance
from the airport would
vary between a mile and
a mile and a half.
Stone previously ap
pointed a beacon site
selection committee
composed of McLendon,
Ralph Gentry and Em
mett Whelchel. He in
structed them to select
the best site available
and report their findings
at the next authority
meeting.
school cafeteria.
Tickets are $2.00 in
advance and $2.25 at the
door. Sandwiches are 75
cents. Contact a Booster
Club member for
tickets.