Governor Haslam Addresses Healthcare Cuts
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NORTH JACKSON — During Governor Bill Haslam’s visit to Jackson, WBBJ got a chance to ask him about another issue that is affecting hundreds of workers at West Tennessee Healthcare. Last month, West Tennessee Healthcare officials announced they can’t rule out employee cuts because of a loss in revenue. President and CEO Bobby Arnold has said these cuts stem from a lack of medicaid coverage expansion. Governor Haslam said the state of Tennessee has not yet expanded the coverage, but is looking at other ways to prevent cuts at hospitals like Jackson-Madison County General. “We will continue to work with West Tennessee healthcare systems so there will hopefully be a situation where they won’t have layoffs,” Gov. Haslam said. “It’s not just the small hospitals. Our large systems are having issues as well.” Just this week, West Tennessee Healthcare announced the closure and consolidation of some of its Pathways mental health facilities.
