Healthcare challenges limiting rural Georgia growth

Jimmy Lewis, the CEO of Hometown Health. says nearly 30 rural Georgia hospitals are currently at risk of closure, with six being at risk of closing at any given point in the near future.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) –Experts say one of the biggest barriers limiting rural development in Georgia is access to healthcare.

The Georgia House of Representatives Rural Development Committee is eyeing paths to economic growth in small communities across Georgia. State Rep. Leesa Hagan (R-Lyon) serves as committee chair. She says a big topic on the minds of Georgians is rural healthcare, with 9 hospitals closing across the state since 2010. Hagan says this makes it more difficult for those communities to attract industry.

“When a new employer is looking to come into any area, particularly rural Georgia, they’re looking for what their employees need to have if they’re going to be asked to relocate there,” Hagan said. “And of course people are concerned, and rightly so, about the quality of healthcare and access to healthcare they will have for their families and for themselves.”

The committee held a meeting on Thursday at the Mercer University School of Medicine. One of the presenters was Jimmy Lewis, the CEO of Hometown Health. Lewis says nearly 30 rural Georgia hospitals are currently at risk of closure, with six being at risk of closing at any given point in the near future. He says cuts to Medicaid are fueling uncertainty.

“We have to understand that with absent funding, we’re going to have these hospitals close,” Lewis said. “And it’s going to lock down the closure in those rural communities.”

Citing cash and workforce shortages, Lewis called on lawmakers to double funding for the Georgia Heart Program, which helps hospitals and donors increase access to rural healthcare through a tax credit. Lewis says failure to increase these subsidies and those allocated for obstetrics will have devastating consequences.

“We’re forced to lose a significant amount of our economic development, called healthcare, at rural hospitals in rural communities,” Lewis said. “We’re creating a third-world nation.” 

With rural hospitals being the largest employers for many Georgia communities, Hagan says protecting their services is a top priority, and vows to do what’s necessary to keep them open.

“They do struggle, but they’re important and they matter greatly to our rural community,” Hagan said.