Home > Article
VOL. 43 | NO. 21 | Friday, May 24, 2019
Struggling hospital in rural Tennessee to get funding cut
JAMESTOWN (AP) — A rural Tennessee hospital that's struggling to even keep its lights on is set to see its federal funding cut next month.
The Tennessean reports the Centers of Medicaid and Medicare Services announced Wednesday that Fentress County's only hospital will no longer receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements as of June 12. Jamestown Regional Medical Center's exclusion could be its death knell.
A federal investigation released Wednesday says the 85-bed facility owed more than $4 million to 200 vendors as of this month. It partially lost power last month when it didn't pay a $33,000 electric bill. County Executive Jimmy Johnson told WBIR-TV that the hospital has run out of many necessary supplies. Federal officials say the hospital also has kept portions of employee paychecks that were withheld for federal taxes.