Alabama plans to try again to reopen Pickens County Medical Center emergency room

PICKENS COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - Leaders in Pickens County say they have worked out a deal to improve their ambulance service.

The deal calls for each municipality in the county to chip in a certain amount of money, enough to provide one 24-hour ambulance service and a 16-hour paramedic unit. But where does that leave the vacant Pickens County hospital which has been closed now for about 3 years or so.

That is the thinking here, but it takes money. In this case about 10 million dollars just to reopen the emergency room.

Efforts to reopen the ER at the Pickens County Medical Center hit a brick wall one year ago when lawmakers failed to generate enough votes to support it. It is expected to come up again during the current legislative session in Montgomery.

“We’ve got to have it. We’ve got to get the ER open,” said Carrolton Mayor Mickey Walker.

Crafting the general fund budget starts in the Alabama senate this year. Senator Gerald Allen says there is a strong likelihood the proposal will come up again, but fell short of offering any guarantees it will pass.

“We’ve got to make sure the program is sustainable, make sure we have the funding necessary and make sure the facility can operate and it doesn’t have to close its doors again,” said Senator Allen.

“No one wants to be in his situation,” said paramedic Vicky McCrory.

McCrory hopes the new agreement to solidify and expand the ambulance service will serve as a momentum to get serious about reopening the emergency room. Otherwise, she says it will continue to be the same routine; transport patients to hospitals either in Columbus, Mississippi, Northport or Tuscaloosa.

“But there will be instances where we’ll be out of town where we’ll transport them to Columbus or Tuscaloosa, leaving the county uncovered. Maybe we can at some point, we can address that,” said McCrory.

If history is any guide, the proposed funds for a stand-alone emergency room will likely come up during the final weeks of the legislative session.

“They have got to understand healthcare must come before waterparks or other items. All of those are important, but healthcare has to be the number one objective,” said Walker.

The only objective that matters in these parts. The Alabama legislature closes out its current session on May 20, a little more than 2 months to go.

No work is being done this week on the matter because lawmakers are on spring break.

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