CAMDEN -- Peggy Abbott, president and chief executive officer of the Ouachita County Medical Center, can't stop smiling when she describes the renovations she hopes to make there. Abbott has been the top hospital official since January but has worked at the facility for nearly three decades.
"It is very near and dear to me," Abbott said of the 98-bed hospital that serves Camden and the surrounding rural area. "We play a very important role in this community, and we hope to continue that tradition for many years to come."
In February, the future of the hospital Abbott loves will be in the hands of Ouachita County voters.
The Ouachita County Quorum Court has approved a special election for Feb. 10, during which voters will weigh in on a 1 percent sales tax that would be used to support hospital maintenance, fund renovations and refinance old bonds.
Citizens will vote on three ballot measures, according to the Ouachita County clerk's office.
One is a half-percent sales tax to pay for facility maintenance and upkeep. If passed, the tax would expire in five years.
A second measure is whether to issue $3.5 million in bonds to refinance the Ouachita County Public Facilities Board Healthcare Revenue Bonds, which paid for a $10 million 2003 renovation project at the hospital. Abbott said the hospital has shouldered bond payments over the past decade, paying $6 million on the debt.
For the third measure, voters will decide on the issuance of more than $6.9 million in bonds for hospital renovations, including in the emergency department. If passed, the second and third measures would be funded by a new half-percent sales tax. Ouachita County residents currently pay a 2 percent countywide sales tax.
Abbott said the tax increase is needed because the hospital is operating with $7 million in deferred maintenance. About 80 percent of the hospital hasn't been renovated since its construction in 1952, she said.
"What we need to do is fortify our infrastructure," Abbott said. "We need roof repairs and just general maintenance that comes with operating an older building. And we want to make our emergency department a 21st century unit, modernizing it for efficiency."
Abbott said keeping the hospital updated is vital not only for the patients but also for the community because of the substantial economic effect the facility has on the community.
"We employ nearly 400 workers, and our payroll every two weeks is roughly half-a-million dollars," she said. "That is a very big economic footprint."
Trudy Smith, who lives in rural Ouachita County, called the hospital a "godsend."
When her husband became ill several years ago, she rushed him to the hospital in a panic. The doctors there immediately calmed her, she said, and treated her husband for a mild case of pneumonia.
"You can't imagine what this place means to my family and to all of us here in Ouachita County," Smith said. "If I could vote for this tax twice, I sure would do it."
Throughout the state, voters have mostly favored tax increases to support local hospitals in recent special elections.
Last month, Mississippi County voters approved a half-percent sales tax that will generate funds for two hospitals there: Great River Medical Center in Blytheville and the South Mississippi County Regional Medical Center in Osceola.
Crittenden County voters approved a 1 percent sales tax in July that would have helped raise funds for the cash-strapped Crittenden Regional Hospital, but the facility closed Sept. 7 after Chief Executive Officer Gene Cashman said the hospital could not pay its more than $30 million in debt.
Now, a nonprofit group is asking a 2nd Judicial Circuit judge to impanel a grand jury to determine if any criminal actions were involved in the closure. Crittenden County officials placed an injunction on the collection of the tax, which had been set to begin this month, County Judge Woody Wheeless said.
Stuttgart voters approved a 1 percent citywide sales tax in March to help raise money for the city's Baptist Health Center, and Sharp County voters rejected a 1.5 percent countywide sales tax that would have raised money to build a new hospital there.
And in August 2013, Hot Spring County voters approved a 20-year, half-percent sales tax to help maintain the Hot Spring County Medical Center in Malvern. That same month, Lawrence County voters favored extending a half-percent sales tax and adding another half-percent sales tax for Lawrence Health Services, which operates a hospital and a nursing home.
Back in Camden, Smith said she has heard nothing but support for the hospital proposal, though at a local coffee shop and cafe Friday morning, some were grumbling at the thought of having to pay more in sales taxes.
Les Widner, who lives near Stephens in Ouachita County, said he supports the hospital but not higher taxes. He offered an alternative: "Get some big-time donors to come in and rename the hospital after them," Widner said. "Stadiums do it all the time, so why can't hospitals?"
Widner's coffee klatch members laughed and smiled.
"I agree," Larry Boggs said. "More taxes right now won't go over well with voters. It's just the truth."
State Desk on 11/29/2014