News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Monroe County Medical Center Administrator Andrea McLerran denies claims that its leadership played a role in the Clay County Commission’s decision on a hospital incentive package.
McLerran was present at a commission meeting earlier this month when commissioners voted 6-3 against $250,000 for a company to reopen the Cumberland River Hospital. Celina Mayor Luke Collins claimed that the Kentucky hospital officials texted commissioners and swayed the vote.
“I have not sent any text messages to any of the county commissioners or spoken to any of the commissioners via phone or face to face about the incentive package or the hospital reopening prior to Monday night’s meeting,” McLerran said.
McLerran said she attended the meeting as a tax payer and resident of Clay County. It just so happened that a commissioner called upon McLerran to respond to a question regarding the success rate of the hospital reopening.
McLerran said she indicated that she would not provide an answer without data.
“The question that was asked of me at the meeting was what the impact would be to our hospital?” McLerran said. “My response was I did not know, because I have honestly not looked at that. We do not draw a significant volume from the 38551 zip code. I did come back after the meeting and asked some of my staff here at the hospital to help me pull reports that would look at reimbursements from that 38551 zip code over time.”
McLerran said her staff compared reimbursement numbers prior to when the Cumberland River Hospital closed. McLerran said the Tompkinsville facility would have only gained about $50,000.
“So not a significant impact to the reimbursements here at Monroe County Medical Center,” McLerran said. “The increase we have seen almost over the last year from the 38551 zip code has come from a local nurse practitioner who had been working out of the area that choose to come back in this area to work.”
McLerran said as a resident, she wants to see the hospital reopen. McLerran said she worked at the Celina facility for 25 years when it was known as the Clay County Hospital.
