Haywood Park Hospital shuts it doors, residents fear for lack in services
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BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — Thousands of Haywood County residents will be without a community hospital after Thursday at midnight. What was once known as Haywood Park Hospital will soon become Haywood Park Urgent Care. Emergency services will not be offered at the urgent care facility. “I am afraid people will die,” Darlene Carter, a resident said. In April, hospital owners announced emergency services would not be offered after July 31, leaving Haywood County paramedics to travel at least 30 miles to get patients to the nearest emergency room. Just this week, county officials approved the hiring of seven additional ambulance workers, anticipating a more strenuous workload. “They won’t always make it to Jackson or Memphis,” Carter said. Brownsville Mayor, Bill Rawls, agreed the closing of the hospital is a big loss, but he said there will be other healthcare options available, including Haywood Park Urgent Care and the two other urgent care facilities in the county. “We will be looking for ways to develop more options for healthcare services in the meantime with hopes of opening the emergency room in the future,” Rawls said. Residents admit the urgent care services will be helpful, but nothing replaces a hospital in their community.
