Countless troubled hospital staff and citizens from multiple Northeast Texas counties filled every chair, dozens more standing at the edge of the packed conference room on the third floor of the Medical Plaza at Titus Regional Medical Center (TRMC). The TRMC Board of Managers held a public meeting on October 15 about the possible sale or lease of the hospital, ultimately voting to wait and further discuss the decision after listening to an hour of public comments.
During the meeting, Board Chairman Don Lowry stated that due to the signing of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), they are not allowed to tell the public who the suitors for TRMC are. At this time, we know there are two suitors in talks about the sale or lease of TRMC.
Over a dozen TRMC staff and concerned citizens approached the podium to speak during public comments before the Board was to make their decision. An overwhelming majority spoke out against joining another hospital system. A number of them requested that the Board simply hold off on making their decision, asking that more information become available to the public.
One of the people who came up to speak was Tiffani Hester, the Director of Community Benefit and Patient Experience at TRMC. She gave an emotional plea for the Board to listen to them, “I’m not just asking for me, but for the people who call Mount Pleasant home. The decisions being made right now are not just about a hospital for a business transaction. They are decisions that will touch individuals’ lives, people’s names, their stories, and families whose roots are here. The community depends on Titus for their health, their security, and their trust in local care.”
A renowned name also came to speak to the Board. Bill Priefert, CEO of Priefert Manufacturing, said, “We, as a community, need and want local control. We want you to control our medical needs, not bureaucrats controlled by property. I’m a businessman. I know you’ve got to earn, live, profit. But in a hospital, you’re more than a business. You are the help of the community. We love our hospital. We don’t want to lose it.
Titus County Judge Kent Cooper voiced his thoughts as well, “We’ve got great people here. I want y’all to understand I’m not coming to tell you how to do your business. Y’all know the numbers. You know the business and what you need to do. We want to stay together because we grow together, because we’re better together. You’ve got a hard decision, and I trust in each and every one of you. But the main thing I can say is try to keep these good doctors, the good staff that we have at Titus County.”
The Board of Managers went into executive session not long after public com-ments ended. After reconvening, they voted to wait and have further discussions with both suitors before making a final decision for TRMC.
We spoke with Chairman Lowry about the reasoning behind this vote, “We were close to naming a successful suitor, but we listened to the public. We listened to the physicians. We still have unanswered questions and felt like we just needed more time to go back to the two suitors and get more information from them. We will take as much time as necessary to make the right decision.”
The TRMC Board meetings are the last Monday of every month at 5:30 p.m., held in the Williams Conference Room at Titus Regional Medical Center. That’s located at 2001 N. Jefferson in Mount Pleasant.
