NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Gov. Lee has weighed in on the situation at the Henry County Medical Center.
As we've reported, the hospital plans to end maternity care in September. The big reason? The hospital says TennCare reimbursement rates don't even come close to the cost of caring for new moms and babies.
We asked the governor what he is doing to save the Henry County OB unit as we learned the hospital is starting the process of shutting down the department. Time appears to be running out even though there are a lot of people who want to save it.
Board members said no one ever attends the monthly meeting of the Henry County Medical Center Board of Trustees, but Thursday night, it was standing room only as people begged the hospital board and called out Blue Cross Blue Shield to do something — anything.
"Don’t give up, please. We are not giving up," said Tricia Reimold, urging the hospital board,
Susan Jones with the group NWTN Cares, which started after the hospital announced plans to close the maternity ward, said she felt this situation didn't have to come down to this.
"It doesn’t have to be like this, y’all. BlueCare, raise your rates."
But the hospital said it just can't afford to keep the maternity ward open any longer.
Last month, the hospital asked Blue Cross Blue Shield to increase its TennCare reimbursement rates by several hundred percent.
But when Blue Cross finally responded earlier this week, the insurance giant offered only a 25% increase, which the hospital's CEO said is not even close to what the hospital needs to keep the unit open.
"That was just far less than we could manage and I communicated that without them (BlueCross) meeting our full ask (the 300% increase), we wouldn’t be able to continue OB services," HCMC CEO John Tucker explained at Thursday night's board meeting.
Tucker said they have to start shutting down the unit, and the final day of obstetrics services will be Sept. 4.
Some at the meeting had hoped Gov. Lee would come to the rescue. They'd sent letters and emails to him.
"I did not receive a response from Gov. Bill Lee's office," longtime Henry County resident Jim Paris said.
And earlier this week, Rep. John Ray Clemmons told us he had asked the governor to help.
"I directly said something about the Henry County Medical Center and the need to address the situation, and I got mostly a blank stare," Clemmons said.
"Did he seem to care? Did he want to know more?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Clemmons.
"No," the lawmaker recalled.
So we decided to ask the governor.
After he spoke at a police graduation luncheon at Belmont University this week, Lee met with reporters, and we asked: "What’s being done on your end to save this (Henry County's) OB?"
"First of all rural health care is very important to the people of this state," the governor said.
He went on to suggest that his Rural Health Care Task Force had a plan. But the group's recent report makes no mention of raising TennCare reimbursement rates or ensuring these rates are fair.
Under Blue Cross's proposal to Henry County, even with the new rates, BCBS would still be paying the hospital less than it did for OB care back in 2009.
"How is that right for the people of Henry County?" we asked the governor.
"I think what’s important is that those negotiations are between that healthcare provider and Henry County. We are committed to engaging TennCare to make certain that those negotiations end up being fair," Lee answered.
But TennCare has said that's not what it does. A TennCare spokesperson has repeatedly told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that it stays out of the negotiation process and has left it up to BlueCross to set its own rates with Henry County, even if they're so low the hospital has to end maternity care and put the lives of mothers and babies in jeopardy.
After the governor stopped taking reporters' questions, we followed him to remind him that as of Sept. 4 — when Henry County's OB ward closes, — northwest Tennessee will become what's known as a "maternity desert," a place with no easy access to maternity care.
We told the governor that doctors say lives will be lost because of that — both mothers' and babies'.
So we asked: "Governor, what would you say to the women and children in Henry County to assure them that you do care about their lives?"
Lee replied, "We do care deeply about the women of Henry County. We care about the children. That’s why we’ve invested significant resources into rural healthcare and into rural hospitals across the state."
But that is not enough at this rural hospital where it appears the sun is setting on OB care and nurses like Tricia Reinmold is worried.
"I am concerned with what’s going to happen with moms and babies," she told the Henry County hospital board.
The hospital will begin sending out letters next week informing patients of the upcoming closure. The hospital said it will work with anyone who is currently pregnant to help them find a new doctor and hospital.
But, again, the closest hospitals offering maternity services are more than an hour away. And, we're told, not a lot of doctors are taking new patients, especially those on TennCare.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 INVESTIGATES' PREVIOUS REPORTING ON THE HENRY COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER:
Blue Cross offers Henry County hospital more money, but nowhere near what's needed
Why a Nashville lawmaker is helping to save a rural hospital
The Henry County Medical Center's money problems should concern you, too. Here's why.
The Henry County Medical Center is closing its ob-gyn unit. Why and who's to blame?
'It terrifies me!' Pregnant women concerned by Henry County Medical Center's decision to close ob-gyn unit
