KENNETT, Mo. -- The City of Kennett has been in an uproar since the announcement came Monday morning that its hospital would be closing soon.
Employees of Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center, along with several state and county officials, were in attendance at the City Council meeting, and expressed their concerns for the entire county, not just the City of Kennett.
To start things off, Mayor Bob Hancock welcomed everyone and announced there were representatives from Doug Libla's office, Jason Smith's office, and Representative Andrew McDaniel in attendance.
Mayor Hancock addressed the large crowd at the capacity filled City, Light, Gas & Water IT building, where the meeting was moved to in order to accommodate the large turnout.
"First and foremost, we want you all to know that we share your shock, we share your pain," Hancock said. "The closing of our hospital not only affects the employees, but it definitely affects the City of Kennett, as well as the entire Dunklin County," he added.
Hancock went on to say, "This is a crisis for our region." He added, "This is a time when we all must come together, take a stand and stay strong."
Hospital leaders provided an update on the plans to consolidate operations of Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center with Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center this summer. A new transition date of June 30, 2018 has been set based on availability of physicians to staff the hospital and emergency room.
The Kennett hospital will no longer offer inpatient, emergency room or hospital-based outpatient services after 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2018.
The hospital has also received notice that it will no longer have obstetric/gynecologic physician coverage after May 17. This means the hospital will no longer provide planned, inpatient childbirth services after that date. Calls to affected OB/GYN patients are beginning today to help them transfer their care to another obstetrician and Poplar Bluff Medical Center for delivery.
Patients who are experiencing a medical emergency, childbirth-related or otherwise, can continue coming to the Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center ER for services while it remains open. The experienced team is trained to provide emergency medical care and, if needed, can arrange for transfer to a higher level of care.
More than 95 percent of patients cared for at the hospital and clinic last year received outpatient care. Planning is still in process to continue access in Kennett for quality primary care and select outpatient diagnostic imaging and lab services.
Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center cares for patients who require more advanced clinical services and has capacity to support the medical needs of patients from Kennett. The modern, 460-bed hospital provides Southeast Missouri with a broad range of services, including inpatient, childbirth, surgical, emergency medical and behavioral healthcare.
During the meeting several hospital employees took a turn at expressing their concerns, all wanting to know what can be done to save their beloved place of employment.
Tonya Swink addressed the council to express her fears and concerns, not only for her own personal reasons, but also for her medical family here in Kennett.
"I have been in medicine for a little more than 36 years," Swink said. "After all these years, we let some outsiders come in here to our town and take something so vital away from us. What are we going to do?"
Hancock advised those in attendance that this is something the city does not plan to take lightly.
"We will not take this lying down," he said. "I can assure you, we are looking into other avenues at this very moment."
Other employees announced how hard it's been for them to come to terms with this devastating loss. "They just built this nice fancy hospital in Poplar Bluff that they need to pay off, therefore, they want to funnel everyone and everything north, instead of seeing the importance of our local hospital remaining open," said Rosemary Pelts.
Kennett Fire Chief John Mallott said he would recommend people start looking into survival flight insurance.
"With a clinic open Monday through Friday, you are not going to get your needs met," Mallott said. "With the distance these transports will now consist of, it's just not acceptable."
Mallott discussed what emergency medical refers to as The Golden Hour.
"The Golden Hour is what we consider from the time we get the call, to the time the patient is stable, the first hour is extremely critical," Mallott said. "And now, with our growing population of elders who choose to live out their lives at home versus being in a nursing home, this hour is critical," added Mallott.
Ethel Walker, a resident of Kennett addressed her concern for those who do not have transportation. "Luckily I have a car," she said. "But I know people who wouldn't have a way home even if they were transported to Poplar Bluff."
One employee asked if Terry McVey, the City Attorney, could file an injunction.
"It's definitely something I can look into," McVey said. The employee said he felt if CHS was tied up in court, maybe then, they would consider selling.
Other options or ideas that were tossed around was the idea of going back to being a county-owned hospital. But after discussing the age and wear and tear on the current facility, others thought the possibility of a new facility would be better.
But even if a new facility was to be built, everyone knows that doesn't help those who are currently displaced.
"We will not give up," Hancock said.
Hancock announced that the Missouri Department of Economic Development will be bringing its Employee Transition Team to Kennett next week to hold meetings with displaced hospital workers to discuss educational opportunities, applying for unemployment, job search services and how to prepare resumes and how to search for gainful employment, amongst other topics. The dates and times will be announced in the next few days.