Jackson-Madison Co. General Hospital to hire hundreds as rural hospitals dwindle

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson-Madison County General Hospital said it needs to hire more than 200 nurses to meet patient demand. The hospital said it started seeing more patients when several rural hospitals in West Tennessee closed.

“We used to quote that we were an 85,000 or a 90,000 per year visit emergency room, and now we’re well over 100,000 visits per year,” West Tennessee Healthcare Executive Vice President Dr. Lisa Piercey said.

Hospitals in Haywood, Gibson and McNairy counties recently closed. Piercey said their patient load picked up. “The combination of those patients coming in and just overall the aging population and the decline of heath in our population has driven our volume,” she said.

Piercey said they have more than 200 nursing positions to fill and could hire dozens of physicians. “Could hire at least a couple dozen primary care physicians in this market area and specialists in almost every specialty,” she said.

Tennessee Hospital Association President Craig Becker said rural hospitals are at risk. “These rural hospitals are really endangered right now, and a lot of it is because of the lack of payment,” he said.

Becker said he thinks some patients will choose not to get treatment because they do not want to drive. “If you have an emergency, I can guarantee you an hour is, could be, the question between life and death,” he said.

Piercey encouraged patients to use their local hospital. “Oftentimes they get in faster,” she said. “They get great personalized care and the quality is top notch.”

Piercey said they added staff in the emergency room at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital and tweaked the triage process to accommodate all of the patients.

A representative with Tennova Healthcare-Regional Jackson said the number of patients at their hospital has remained steady over the last two years.