Flatlined

I have spent hours writing on the hospital project.

I have spoke to representatives on both sides of the aisle on the hospital project, those for and those against.

I have expressed my personal desire to see some action taken concerning the progression of the hospital project.

Thursday night at a special meeting of the city council action was taken.

The council voted seven to three to oppose the Certificate of Need now held by Main Street Health Ventures.

In my opinion, this is the death knell of that particular project.

The final decision, of course, lies in Jefferson City with the Missouri Hospital Facilities Review Board, but I believe it would be very difficult to obtain financing on this particular project with this level of opposition from not only the city council, but the chamber of commerce, as well as the community.

For those in the community that did support this hospital project with the Billionaires Funding Group, they weren’t very vocal.

I saw only a handful at the town hall meetings that were held on this subject.

One of the pluses of the special meeting was the amount of people in attendance.

It’s very refreshing to see a large contingent of the community at a council meeting.

One has to wonder if this didn’t help the council members during the voting process.

Lots of discussion will be held following this decision.

Many conversations at the dinner table, restaurants, and barbershops, will ensue but let’s hope it will spill over to city hall and meeting attendance will rise.

Be aware, be informed, and be vocal.

What’s next?

When will we begin the process of bringing a hospital to our community?

I believe that process started within minutes of the close of the special session.

That’s good.

Let’s get busy.

Until then, we’ve got a big white building that could sit and decay until kingdom come.

There’s a lot of work to be done as we forge ahead with another hospital project.

Let’s try and keep personalities out of it, and concentrate on what is good for our community.

Councilman Charley Mattix stressed the hope that his fellow council members and the public would work together on this project, in the name of God.

That’s a good place to start.

Prayerfully, hope will overtake frustration in our efforts to bring a hospital back to Kennett.

How long will the next project take?

Will this new venture resuscitate the birth of a new hospital/medical center?

Let’s hope so.

The current one has definitely appeared to flatline.

See you out there.