JONESBORO — During its Tuesday, Aug. 15 regular meeting, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners voted to extend an ARPA deadline for Southern Regional Medical Center.
Commission Chair Jeff Turner and Commissioners Gail Hambrick, DeMont Davis, Alieka Anderson voted for the extension while Commission Vice Chair Felicia Franklin voted against it.
In October of 2021, the County Commission approved an agreement with SRMC to received more than $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act to hire nurses and staff.
More than $1 million was not spent by the deadline of June 30, 2022. The hospital could not spend that money until granted an extension. The new deadline is now Dec. 21, 2024 with a final report due in 2026.
The hospital also received more than $1.7 million in ARPA money in January of 2023 and the deadline will apply to that amount as well.
Franklin said there are issues for SRMC and the county needs to look at how it spends the money.
“I have concerns, the citizens have concerns,” she said.
She also questioned $7 million that the County Commission approved for indigent care at SRMC in its most recent budget.
“We have to take care of our citizens here in Clayton County,” Turner said of the indigent care money.
In response to Franklin’s concerns about the hospital, he did say there have been issues with SRMC but he has “total and complete confidence in their ability to serve this community.”
Southern Regional Medical Center was named in an Aug. 9 lawsuit on behalf of a Clayton County couple who said their baby was decapitated during a July 2023 delivery.
Also named in the lawsuit were Dr. Tracey L St. Julian (whom SRMC said is not an employee), Premier Women’s OB/GYN, and nurses (who were not identified by name in the lawsuit).
In another ARPA matter during the Aug. 15 meeting, the County Commission unanimously approved to return…
Read the full article here
