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VOLUME CIII - NUMBER XIX
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Staff Photo
CHATTOOGA COUNTY COMMISSIONER HARRY POWELL ADDRESSES CROWD
Calls For Long-Term Solution To Hospital Crisis, Including More Doctors
Huge Parade Saturday;
Hospital Telethon Set
Funds To Aid CCH, Children In Shrine Facilities
The biggest parade in Sum
merville’s history is scheduled
for Saturday morning to honor
Americans who have died in
defense of liberty and to
spotlight the medical care con
tributions of area Shriners.
More than 75 units are ex
pected to participate.
TELETHON
The annual Chattooga
County Telethon will begin at
8 p.m. Friday on cable televi
sion, Channe{S, sponsored by
the Rome Shrine Club. The
first $20,000 in donations will
éo to the financially ailin%
hattooga County Hospita
and the remainder up to
$60,000 will benefit Yocal
15 Qualify For Chattooga Offices
Three Hopefuls Run For Commissioner, Two For Sheriff
At least 15 people qualified
Wednesday for various Chat
toolga County political offices,
including three hopefuls seek
ing the county commissioner’s
seat and two candidates runn
ing for sheriff. .
Qualifying for the Aug. 9
McConnell Files
Reelection Bid
Chattooga County Sheriff
Gary McConnell this week an
nounced that he would seek
reelection to a new four-year
term, saying he plans “‘to carry
on the tradition set by my
father for honest, hard-working
and effective law enforce
ment.”
He is running as a
Democrat in the Aug. 9 general
primary. He was appointed
sheriff at afiZl after Kls father
and then-sheriff, John Frank,
died on July 7, 1967. He was
elected to complete his father’s
term in Au%'ust of that year,
being reelected on his own in
1968 and 1972. McConnell was
defeated in 1976 but elected in
1980 and 1984.
RECORD
“I want to thank everyone
for allowing me to serve as
see McCONNELL, page 11-A
2 o
Lhe _ummerutile Nels
—
: © Copyright 1988 By Espy Publishing Co.. Inc. — All Rights Reserved
youngsters who have received
care from the Shrine’s burn
hospitals, said Summerville's
Lamar Gregg, president of the
Club. Any amount over
$60,000 will also go to the local
hospital, he pledged.
A total of $52,424 in
pledges was recorded last year
and some $51,000 was actual
ly collected, said Gregg.
INVOLVEMENT
““We need to urge people to
get involved in this t.eletfion,"
Gregg said. “‘We need clubs,
churc%les and other organiza
tions to hels us canvass all the
county and hit every town.
Before this year, we have pret
ty much limited our canvassing
general primary began at 9
a.m. Wednesday and it will
close at noon next Friday, June
Fourteen of the candidates
(l;)ualifying on the first day were
emocrats and one was a
Republican.
; S
~ gfi‘q %:Y S
SHERIFF McCONNELL
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1988
to the Summerville area but
this year we need to hit the en
tire count¥l and raise enough
money to help keep our local
hospital open and to provide
care for our children at the
Shrine burn hospitals.”” Gregg
may be reached at 857-4781.
Meanwhile, area law en
forcement officers asked
motorists to exercise care dur
in% the 78-hour Memorial Day
holiday which will begin at 6
p.m. Friday and end at mid
night Monday.
FREE TOWING
A Summerville wrecker ser
vice will also offer free towing
service during the holiday to
drivers who have had too much
Lann Cordle, clerk of court,
was the first to plunk his
money down at 9 a.m. sharp,
followed seconds later by Jon
Payne, probate judge. Both are
seeking reelection as
Democrats. ¥
Katherine Camp, Summer
ville, and Mrs. 'l'gd Martin,
Trion, accepted the checks and
%ualifying J)apers of
emocratic candidates. Payne
was designated to accept
Republican qualifiers by Dr.
Gary Smith, Chattooga GOP
chairman. Mrs. Camp is chair
man of the CEattooga
Democratic Committee.
As expected, David Tid
more, Jim Parker and Fondren
Wright qualified to run for
county commissioner. Tid
more, a former official with the
Chattooga Department of
Family and Children Services,
and Parker, a Lyerly farmer,
will run as Democrats. Wright,
a Teloga businessman, will run
again as a Republican. He
sought the office unsuccessful
ly in 1984.
Although Harry Powell, the
incumbent county commis
sioner, passed the qualifying
table set up in the courthouse
hallway several times during
the day, he didn't qualify
Wednesday. The commissioner
said earlier this spring that he
would decide whether to seek
reelection on the day before
qualifying ends.
Sheritt Gary McConnell, as
expected, qualified to seek
another foweax term. As had
been reported last week, former
Dropout Grant Sought
--See Page 3-A
to drink (see related story).
Most local, state and
federal governmental offices
will be cfi)sed next Monday in
observance of the holiday.
The Rome 'Shrine Club,
which serves Floyd and Chat
tooga Counties, is obligated for
some $40,000 in medical ex
penses for children who have
received treatment since Jan.
10 of this year, Gregg said.
Cost of the annual telethon is
about $4,000 to $5,000, mean
ing that the television program
hopes to raise $60,000 to
$65,000 this weekend. It will
begin at 8 p.m. Friday and con
tinue through Sunday night.
Entertainment and the
see HUGE PARADE, page 18-A
Sheriff Fred Stewart also
qualified to run against
McConnell. Stewart was
defeated in the 1964 race by
John Frank McConnell, the
current sheriff's father.
Stewart had beaten back a
challenge by J. F. McConnell in
1960. Both are Democrats.
Two members of the Chat
tooga Board of Education also
received opposition Wednes
day, as hag been reported by
The News last week.
Incumbent board member
Joyce Johnson qualified to
seek reelection. Joe Cox, Sum
merville Rte. 2, qualified
Wednesday to run for the
school board seat. Both are
running as Democrats.
Jerry Burton, Summerville
Rte. 4, also put his money on
the table Wednesday to seek
the school board seat now held
by William Mitchell, who has
until June 3 to qualify.
Several incumbents
qualified Wednesday without
immediate orposition.
They included Democrats
Hugh Don Hall, tax commis
sioner; Albert Palmour, State
Court solicitor; Earle Rain
water, coroner; and Don
Hayes, county school
supfirigtegdent. ¥
üby Baggett, Lyerly, also
qtllxalified for a%irtsefi’er seat on
the Chattooga Democratic
Committee.
Ralph “Country” Brown, a
Chattooga magistrate who had
said earlier he would qualify for
county commissioner, didn’t
see 15 QUALIFY, page 18-A
Keep Hospital Open,
Crowd Of 500 Tells
Authority Tuesday
Meeting With City, County Officials
To Discuss Financing Receives Nod
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
Almost 500 people jammed
into the courtroom of tixe Chat
tooga County Courthouse
Tuesday night and gave a ring
ing endorsement to the concept
of keeping doors of the Chat
tooga Hospital open for
business.
They applauded virtually
every idea or proposal offered
fgr.helping the medical facility
get back on its financial feet
immediately and for ensuring
its longterm survival.
When those present were
given an opportunity to stand
if they wanted the hospital to
continue operations, virtually
every seat in the courtroom
became vacant.
Surplus No Solution
Hospital Still $151,000 In Hole This Year
Chattooga County Hospital
recorded a small surplus in
April because of increased pa
tient use of the facility, it was
revealed at Monday night’s
meeting of the hospital's
Authority.
However, the facility is still
more than $151,000 in the hole
for the first 10 months of the
current fiscal year, the panel
was also told. i
Meanwhile, the Authority
voted to submit a proposed
budget for next year to Chat
tooga Commissioner Harry
Powell by a June 1 deadline
next Weg,nesday. All budgets
must be submitted to the com
missioner by that date, accor
ding to state law. The amount
requested from the county will
be determined prior to that
date, the panel indicated.
ADDITION
Authority members also
discussed t?\]e planned com
munity meeting on the hospital
issue Tuesday night at the
courthouse (see related story).
The status of the proposed ad
dition to Oak View NursinF
Home was outlined in detail.
Bids will be received on the
project at 1 p.m. today.
Morris Brunson, who pro
vides the hospital with finan
cial services through a contract
it has with Floyd Medical
Center, said combined revenue
for the hospital and nursing
home amounted to $313,918 in
April. Deductions of $44,740
from revenue resulted in ad
justed gross revenue of
$269,263, he said. ;
Operating expenses of
$229,263 reduced the total of
$39,915, financial sheets show
ed, and debt service of $9,364
reduced the total surplus to
$30,551 for April.
OCCUPANCY
Brunson attributed most of
the surfi)lus to 29Z‘Fatient days
in April, compared with 111 in
March. The occupancy rate last
Landfill Property f
--See Page 17-A
MEETING
As the result of one sugges
tion, the Hospital Authority
hopes to set up a joint meeting
with each government in the
county in the immediate future
to discuss the possibility of
financial aid for the remainder
of this year.
The panel had called the
meeting to Fauge the com
munity’s feelings about the
hospital. It wanted to know
whether it should continue its
fight to keep the hospital open
or whether the community
wanted its doors clesed.
At least two residents of
fered immediate donations of
SIOO each to the hospital while
another citizen suggested that
each large employer in the
count{) e contacted for a
contribution.
NO COMMITMENT
Chattooga Commissioner
Harry Powell spoke twice dur-
month was 31.94 percent,
Brunson continued, compared
with a rate of 11.55 percent in
March.
The number of visits to the
emergency room continued to
decline to 519 in April, down
from 538 in March, he noted.
But Sherry Bishop, a member
of the Authority, said that
emergency room revenue ap
peared to be down by onf)y
around $2,000 from the time
when it was reporting more
than 700 visits per month.
Authority members specu
Rome Developer Offers
Nursing Home, Clinic
A Rome developer offered Monday
night to build a new nursing home and
hospital and lease it to the Chattooga
County Hospital Authority but he didn’t
meet with a very enthusiastic reception.
Charles Williams, who owns Winthrop
Court on U. S. 411 southeast of Rome, fif)-
peared before the panel at its monthly
meeting at the hospital, to make his *“in
formal” offer. No action was taken by the
Authority after Williams left, but several
members of the board indicated that they
had no interest in the proposal.
NURSING HOME
The developer, who said he had built a
number of residential and commercial
buildings, reminded the Authority that he
had sought to build a }grivate 72-ged nurs
ing home on Bolling Road two years ago.
Williams noted that the only opposition he
had received came from the Authority,
which sought to expand Oak View Nurs
ing Home.
The State Health Planning Ag’\e,ncy
(SHPA) eventually a;:goved the Oak View
proposal and turned down Williams' plan.
ing the meeting but steered
clear of a firm commitment to
help fund the hospital during
the remainder olp this year.
However, he said he wou{d be
willing to meet with the
Authority and all four city
governments in the counatf' to
iscuss possible financial ar
rangements to keep the
hospital open until a longterm
solution can be devised.
Any meeting would have to
wait until he has recovered
from planned (éye surfiery to
day at Redmond Park Hospital
in Rome, he said. R
Summerville Mayor Sewell
Cash suggested an immediate
major contribution to the
hospital by each government,
plus a monthly donation begin
ning in July. I‘E would continue
for one year until at least two
new anticipated doctors could
set up a practice in the com
munity and increase the
number of patients using the
lated that the figures may
result from an improved collec
tion system at the emergency
room.
ACCOUNTING
Mrs. Bishop said, however,
that she wanted to determine
how much of the emergency
room revenue was due to
“emergency use’’ of the facili
ty and how much could be at
tributed to local physicians
sending their patients to the
hos it§ for routine tests.
Ft would be “almost im-
The Authority plans to receive bids at 1
ev.m. today on a 63-bed addition to Oak
iew, financed by the federal Farmers
Home Administration (FmHA).
HOSPITAL BEDS
Williams offered to build a new 152-bed
nursing home — apparently on Boll.infi
Road — and an adjacent clinic that woul
provide emergency service as well as 12 to
15 hospital beds, and a place to station the
county ambulance service if needed. The
hospital portion would mErovide 24-hour
observation service, he indicated, although
the Authority might later decide that it
needed a full hospital wing.
Cost of the project would be some
$3,850,000, he said, and it would be financ
ed privately and not involve tax funds. If
the Authority approved th(‘alrlan, Williams
estimated, construction could start within
six to nine months. ‘
“EXPENSIVE” '
It will be ‘‘awfully expensive’ to
renovate the existing facility to meet new
see ROME DEVELOPER, page 17-A
PRICE 25°
facility, he indicated.
ELATED
Members of the Authority
seemed elated about the tur
nout and the support
demonstrated on behalf o?the
hospital. Katherine Camp,
chairman of the panel, said
afterward that those attending
were ‘‘our kind of mle."
They ‘“‘came out of the hills and
the hollows” to express their
support, she continued, in
dicatini that the sessien had
gii]ven the Authority new en
thusiasm for working out a
solution for the hospital.
At least 12 sgkers ex
the facility ;?)en, mclud.u% the
director of the hospital's
emergency room. Dr. John
Trimble said that the lives of
about 150 people — or one
third of those present Tuesday
— had been saved since last Oc
see KEEP HOSPITAL, page 16-A
?ossible” .to separate the
igures due to the hospital's
manual bookkeeping system,
responded Shirley McCrickard,
assistant hospital admini
strator.
Other figures show that the
hospital alone received
$195,181 in revenue in April. It
recorded $78,959 in direct ex
pense and $lOl,lBB in indirect
costs, leaving a surplus of
$15,034 before debt service
deductions.
Oak View, meanwhile, had
see SURPLUS, page 16-A