Growing maintenance issues was a big topic of discussion at the Bradley County Medical Center Board meeting on Thursday. BCMC Maintenance Director Tim Saunders shared the infrastructure issues that need to be repaired including the roof, the generator, and plumbing. The board members said the repairs needed to be fixed.
Board member Joe Don Greenwood said the roof should be fixed first.
“We need to make good decisions,” said Greenwood talking about the funding and the repairs that are needed.
Saunders said most of the leaks from the roof were from the 1950 addition of the hospital.
The hospital bid out roof repairs and were waiting for more to come in.
The board members discussed the master plan that was presented to them at the previous meeting, with some expressing their disappointment in it and the lack of information on what needed to be done now.
The topic of building a new hospital was touched upon. BCMC CEO Leslie Huitt said they would need to be transparent to the public and that the decision needed to be a community decision.
The board listened to a presentation by the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program about a three-year grant participation program that was awarded to the hospital.
It was reported that hospital visits were up from the previous month in January.
Vice President of Support Servives Marilyn Johnson said they applied for a grant from the USDA, but after they applied it was reported the funds from the grant were depleted.
Johnson said repairs were being made at Kids First after the building flooded.
The Bradley County Health Foundation will have fundraiser on May 5 and plans to feature Lumberjack Coach Bo Hembree and former Lumberjack, Razorback, and NFL player Jarius Wright.
The next board meeting will be on Thursday, March 23.
