About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2020)
Save up to $197 COUPONS INSIDE eh t ettncs Weekend Edition - JUNE 6-7,2020 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local After Riverside Military cancels fall sports, Dabney headed to Cherokee Bluff, sports, 13b No matter what your child enjoys, there’s probably a summer camp for that. LIFE, 10B Pandemic hits NGHS hard in wallet Health system cutting jobs and hours, plans furloughs as revenue sinks BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Northeast Georgia Health Sys tem has seen a decline in admis sions at its hospitals, which has led to an expected revenue loss of $200 to $250 million through September. NGHS is eliminating 81 posi tions, furloughing 27 employees and reducing some employees’ hours through September, CEO Carol Burrell said in a statement Friday. The system is also freezing recruitment for 167 open positions. The system has seen reduc tions in patient volumes in all departments, including 50% in the emergency department, 70% in outpatient surgery and up to 100% in outpatient rehabilitation and some physician practices, Chief Financial Officer Brian Steines said. NGHS fell 15% short of expected admissions in March, 29% short in April and was pro jected to fall 21% short in May as of May 27. “We want to encourage every one to not be afraid to come to the hospital if you need care. We’ve seen a reduction in the number of patients coming to our hospitals for heart attacks, strokes, miscar riages and other health emergen cies — and delaying that care is life-threatening,” Steines said in an email. “The best place anyone can be in those situations is in a hospital, and our staff is taking all precautions possible to keep them safe while they are here.” Extra costs such as personal protective equipment, convert ing rooms for COVID-19 patients into negative pressure spaces and changing medical and surgi cal rooms into ICU spaces added to the financial impact, he said. While 7% to 8% of NGHS patients are usually indigent, in March and April, that number was more than 12%, Steines said. Hospitals also saw price increases on some supplies. For example, N95 masks cost 50 cents each before the pandemic, but costs rose to as much as $5 per mask, Steines said. NGHS has received about $54 million in federal funding from the CARES Act, the federal coro- navirus relief funding legislation. Those funds will offset about 21% to 27% of the projected $200 to $250 million revenue loss through September. Steines said that while the health system was strong financially before the pandemic, “no non profit health system can take this kind of financial loss without mak ing adjustments.” Senior leadership is taking a 25% to 30% pay cut for the year, and NGHS paused matching employees’ contributions to their 401(k) plans through September. The system has adjusted staff ing to match patient volumes in non-essential areas and is evalu ating other adjustments that may be needed through September, Steines said. Expansion and improvement projects are also being reconsidered. “While these decisions are diffi cult, they are necessary to ensure NGHS can continue to provide safe and high-quality care both now and in the future. As we move forward in this evolving landscape, we will ■ Please see NGHS, 4A ‘My voice isn’t the only voice’ Gainesville protesters share their perspectives ~t Bum Lojum- where, * J>j£Err to Tushie EVEH'I^ele. 5kin cm 15 Not THREAT!! f Black lives matter. • -.1 KELSEY PODO I The Times Joseph Jack, left, and Christen Lott Hunte, right, protest on the side of Jesse Jewell Parkway on June 2. Conversations on race Today, The Times shares perspectives from those who have protested on Gainesville’s streets in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Those who would like to tell of their experiences can reach out to news@gainesvilletimes.com to be put in touch with a reporter. Full names must be provided. Opinions inside ■ Editorial, 11A ■ Casas: Use outrage for change, 11A ■ Letters to the editor, 12A BY KELSEY PODO kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Voices pierced through the air as people of different races, ages and backgrounds protested daily in downtown Gainesville. The call to action sparked after George Floyd, a 46-year- old African American man, died on May 25. A video showed Derek Chauvin, former Minneapo lis police officer, pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Chauvin has since been charged with second-degree murder and the three other officers — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao — who were at the scene, were charged with aiding and abetting second- degree murder and second- degree manslaughter. Since the incident, people around Hall County have pro tested against systemic rac ism and police brutality and asked for change. “My voice isn’t the only voice,” Christen Lott Hunte of Gainesville said. “I’m just a drop in the bucket of the tons of voices that need to be heard on these issues.” In the past week, The Times has sought perspectives from those protesting and spoke with these five people who have been protesting in down town Gainesville. Christen Lott Hunte When Lott Hunte, 27, of Gainesville, watched the video of Floyd crying out for his mother in pain, she said been depressive as a black American.” Lott Hunte, who has a bach elor’s in English from Geor gia State University, said she is currently working with another woman to help cre ate hate crime legislation in Georgia. She is also working to pro- ing for a law firm in Gaines ville, she said a representative from a prosecutor’s office referred to her as an “African spy” in an email that was seen by everyone in the court. Lott Hunte said incidents like this one make her feel dis couraged to speak up for her self. However, she has found said. “But if my voice can help in whatever way, I want to use my voice for this community. The people need to know that we are done with the cru elty, and we’re done with the injustice.” Romero said he is one of millions who are fed up with the justice system and how ■ Please see STORIES,13A What voters can expect on Tuesday BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com Although many voters in Hall County have opted to vote by mail in the June 9 primary, polls will be open countywide Tuesday with changes including new machines and social dis tancing regulations. The county elections office had processed about 14,700 absentee ballots as of Friday morn ing, Elections Director Lori Wurtz said. Another 2,400 had arrived at the office but had not been processed yet. Although a third-party vendor contracted with the state had been processing absentee ballots, the responsibility shifted back to county offices during the last week of early voting, Wurtz said. The county has received about 60,000 absen tee ballot applications and sent out about 31,000 ballots. County spokeswoman Katie Crumley said of the remaining applications, about 18,000 were duplicate requests, or people who sent in multiple applications. Another 6,000 were returned mail, including many people whose mailing addresses were different from their physical addresses, and the Secretary of State’s vendor re-sent many of those ballots. She said 100 were being held for additional information, such as if the voter did not sign the ballot or designate a party. Elections officials had been unable to reach those 100 voters. Crumley said 400 of those ballots had been meant for another county and were sent to the correct county. Another 1,000 of the applica tions had been canceled if the voter decided not to vote by mail, changed their party or realized they made a mistake on the application. About 3,400 people had cast their ballots in person during early voting as of Friday morn ing, Wurtz said. There are about 125,000 registered voters in Hall. If a voter has requested an absentee ballot but decides to vote in person instead, they can ■ Please see VOTING, 6A DEATHS 2B Loyd Ayers, 74 Jessie Bridges, Jr., 72 Ivan Buice Winford Cheeks Jr., 71 Mary Cochran, 93 Jean Cornett, 79 Kenneth Douglass, 84 Ann Duchow, 55 Edward Fortner, 52 Timothy Garner, 57 Edward Garrett, 77 William Griffith, III, 76 Frank Janik, 82 Linda Jones, 71 Danny Kirby, 73 Grade Lance, 75 Margie Linnartz Charles Little Merna Martin, 90 Paul Mitchum, 24 Agnes Moore, 80 Jean Olmsted, 87 Sylvia B. Palmer, 85 Kadeen Martin Pirkle, 86 Aileen Pardue Ray, 96 J. Jerome Rogers, 84 Jonathan Sanford, 18 James Scroggs, 69 Allene Sears, 78 William Shelton, 79 Charlotte Skinner, 76 Tommie Sorrow, 63 Larry Timms, 78 John Walton, 58 0 25 9 YOUR CARE FROM ANYWHERE. nghs.com/video-visits
