A question-and-answer program on the proposed sales tax to benefit our local hospital took place on Thursday, June 4th, at the Rapert Library Auditorium on the campus of U.A.H.T. Mayor Don Still moderated a panel consisting of Ed Darling, Jamie Pafford Grisham, Anna Powell, and Shelby Brown. Many good questions were asked of the panel during the almost two-hour affair.
For the sake of this article, let this be said first. Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center is open and has been designated as a critical access hospital, meaning it has 25 beds. This is according to the Chief Administrative Officer, Shelby Brown. “We have contracted with the Blue Angels group out of Louisiana to operate a full-function emergency room’. Ed Darling, representing the Hempstead County Quorum Court, said the local hospital employs 120 people and some of these are six-figure positions. The current yearly payroll is between eight and nine million dollars. Anna Powell informed those in attendance the Hope hospital served 10,000 patients in 2025. We now have a rural health clinic at the hospital led by Dr. George Garrett and Tammy Wellman. So far, 13,000 have benefitted from this. Jamie Pafford Grisham added, “We are a full-service hospital right now. Recently, we had ten patients in rooms overnight at the hospital”.
If passed, the 3/4 cent sales tax would pay for things such as a new roof on the hospital, new air conditioners, a new MRI, a new CT scan, upgrades to the radiology department, and lots of new computers. The tax, if passed, is projected to raise at least three million dollars a year. These funds can only be used to pay for physical needs like the ones just mentioned, according to Anna Powell with the local Hempstead County Economic Development Corporation.
Jamie Pafford Grisham spoke at length about all that has transpired to keep the hospital open. Pafford purchased the hospital in September 2024. ” In the beginning, we wanted to stabilize the hospital and get its finances straight. We’re still not in the black today, but we are doing better financially”. Shelby Brown then added, ” Changes are being made now so that we will be sustainable down the road”.
Grisham told the audience that every possible grant to help the hospital had been applied for to no avail. “We have practically begged the state for help, but no one has helped us. Without the passage of this sales tax, we will not be able to sustain our hospital. We are at the end of a rope”. Anna Powell responded with, “Those able to help want to first see what we are doing to save our hospital before they help us monetarily”.
Additional thoughts from the evening came from Anna Powell, who shared a recent quote from the annual report of the Arkansas Hospital Association which stated that, “Only one hospital in the whole state of Arkansas showed a profit”. Ed Darling also mentioned an article from the Democrat-Gazette which said, “40% of rural hospitals in the state of Arkansas are going to close in the next five years”.
The meeting, which was positive and constructive in nature, ended with a few final statements. Jamie Pafford Grisham told those gathered, “This tax will help us have control over what happens to our hospital. We are grateful for the three and a half million dollars given by the county, city, and Hope Water and Light to keep the hospital going thus far”. Anna Powell concluded with an emotional call to action, “This is essentially for the future of our industries”. Mayor Don Still mentioned the hospital took care of his kidney stone not long ago and that we should all be glad it is here.
Please vote early through Monday at the courthouse or vote at the Fair Park Community Center on Tuesday, June 9th, if you live in Hope.
