Mississippi County Hospital System's board of directors will begin prioritizing needed repairs for the system's two hospitals after voters approved a half-percent sales tax in Tuesday's special election, board Chairman John Logan said.
The tax will generate about $2 million a year for the Great River Medical Center in Blytheville and the South Mississippi County Regional Medical Center in Osceola.
Mississippi County currently collects a 2 percent sales tax. The new half-percent tax will add to that, as voters favored it 1,151 to 993.
The hospitals, which employ about 270 people, need about $9 million in repairs, Logan said.
Great River Medical Center was built in 1976, and the Osceola facility was built nearly 60 years ago. Both facilities have some buildings with leaking roofs, some nonfunctioning plumbing and out-of-code electrical systems.
An automatic fire sprinkler system also no longer works in an area that is not currently used by hospital personnel but would need upgrades if it is to be used again, the chairman said.
"The hospitals aren't falling apart," Logan said after learning the results of Tuesday's special election. "But we need a lot of upkeep, and we don't have the money."
Officials called for the special election for Tuesday -- three weeks before the general election on Nov. 4 -- to help meet deadlines required to begin collecting the tax in January. The tax will be collected for five years and will end Dec. 31, 2019.
The county should begin receiving tax revenue in March, Logan said.
"We've asked hospital administrators to see what needs to be done first," Logan said. "The [tax] revenue will be placed in a special fund, and as projects are identified and costs determined, we will make the repairs."
He said he expects buildings at both the Blytheville and Osceola facilities will first receive new roofs.
Mississippi County is the 20th Arkansas county or city to support a hospital with a sales tax.
Voters in Crittenden County passed a 1 percent, countywide sales tax in July that would have raised about $6 million annually for the Crittenden Regional Hospital in West Memphis. However, the hospital, citing expenses of $30 million, closed its doors in September, and the county officials placed an injunction on the collection of the tax.
In Stuttgart, residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of a 1 percent, citywide sales tax to help fund its Baptist Health Medical Center in the Arkansas County town.
The Piggott Community Hospital, the Ashley County Medical Center and the Baptist Health Medical Center in Hot Spring County all also received tax support within the past five years.
Most of the medical facilities became financially troubled because of declining reimbursements from federal programs, said Paul Cunningham, executive vice president at the Arkansas Hospital Association.
"Once hospitals begin losing money, it becomes a death spiral," Cunningham said. "If a hospital can find a way to turn that around, it helps them and it helps the community itself.
"Without a hospital, it's difficult to get economic growth," he said. "There are three things companies always look for when considering new locations: good schools, good churches and good hospitals."
Mississippi County Judge Randy Carney said he was pleased the sales tax passed.
"It's important for us to help maintain the hospitals," he said. "I think the hospital brings a lot of revenue into the county. We need it."
Logan said the Mississippi County Hospital System's board will meet frequently to discuss repairs and to recruit new physicians.
"They are the engines that bring people to the hospitals," Logan said of physicians. "They are our hospitals, and we need them. This is going to work."
State Desk on 10/16/2014