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Editor's Notes
But nothing ever became of it. Our three largest communities are our assets in Clarke County but they are also our liabilities and stumbling stones. Everyone wants to have everything and we often end up not having something as good as we should because we have to have three instead of one good one. Every city wants its own hospital. They not only provide vital healthcare services but they also are major employers and contributors to the local economy. But with healthcare costs continuing to soar and insurance and governmental appropriations and reimbursements continuing to decline, something has got to give sooner or later-and probably sooner than later. The sobering assessment that stood out to me at Monday's meeting to discuss the hospital issue was the general consensus that Clarke County won't in the long run be able to support three hospitals. We can wait for the natural evolution to solve the problem and for one or two of the hospitals to close or we can take the bull by the horns and try to get a step ahead before that happens. I don't know what the answer is but we should be willing to discuss the issue rationally and logically. We should be willing to do what is best for the entire area and all its citizens-not just what Grove Hill, Jackson or Thomasville wants from their own sometimes selfish point of view. Our hospitals can't continue to run as they have for the last four and five decades. I'm not a healthcare expert but even I can see that. We must think beyond the norm, beyond what we have always known. We must think "outside of the box." It is akin to the Wright Brothers back around 1900 when everyone kept telling them that humans couldn't fly. They didn't give up and we shouldn't either-on this issue or the many others that confront us. Jim Cox is editor and publisher of The Democrat.
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