Like most people I have spoken with in the community recently, I am very dismayed about the proposal to transfer the assets of Jennie Stuart Medical Center to the Deaconess hospital chain headquartered in Evansville, Indiana. Having served on the Jennie Stuart Board as mayor of Hopkinsville from 2007 through 2014, I have some knowledge of the hospital’s operation and impact in the community.
Incorporated in 1913, Jennie Stuart has been an integral part of the Christian County area for more than 100 years. For most of that time, the bylaws required that the Hopkinsville mayor and Christian County judge-executive serve as a voting member of the hospital board. I don’t understand why that was changed by the board about five years ago to eliminate the only two board members who had accountability to the public by being elected officials.
Having served as co-chair of the United Way Campaign twice and as a board member of several local charitable organizations, I am very appreciative of the huge impact Jennie Stuart has made through the years through sponsorships and fund-raising campaigns. I fear all of that will go away if Jennie Stuart is transferred to Deaconess. We will lose local control and all decisions will be made in Evansville, Indiana.
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Friends of mine who previously served on the Jennie Stuart board are shocked and disappointed by the current board’s failure to manage their way through current operational problems. I am told that the hospital’s financial position is solid with enough cash on hand to make necessary changes and preserve the independent local operation of the hospital.
Indeed, the most recent credit report by the Fitch rating agency dated July 12, 2023, states that the hospital’s “unrestricted liquidity remained at a strong $121 million (265 days cash on hand) … .” The Fitch rating last year was BBB- and the outlook was “stable.”
Further evidence of the hospital’s solid financial position can be found in the Audit Reports for 2022 and 2023. They show that JSMC had $111 million in cash and short term investments and total net assets of $147.7 million at the end of 2023. I am told by knowledgeable local financial people that JSMC is nowhere near insolvent. So, it begs the question: “Why does the board want to give up the hospital and all its assets?”
It should be pointed out that the apparent intent of the current proposal is to simply transfer the assets of JSMC to Deaconess without any payment being made back to the community. Knowledgeable friends have expressed their fears that the transfer to Deaconess will result in jobs being lost in Hopkinsville and some services being consolidated with other Deaconess operations in Madisonville thereby reducing services available in Hopkinsville. We have an outstanding staff at Jennie Stuart which is serving our region well. We need to stand behind them.
I am also dismayed by the fact that the Jennie Stuart Board and management allowed the Jennie Stuart Foundation to conduct a fund-raising campaign in the community for the E.C. Green Cancer Center while conducting secret negotiations to transfer the assets of the hospital at the same time. The fact that the chair of the Foundation Board learned of the impending vote to proceed with a Letter of Intent only days before the decision is unbelievable.
I appreciate the volunteer service of the Jennie Stuart Board members. It is a hard job and they have a big responsibility. I urge the JSMC Board to take a step back, share the reasons for signing the Letter of Intent, and then listen to input from the community. Perhaps the advice of an independent third party should be sought. Whatever we do, I urge that we as a community fight to save one of our most important assets. It would be well worth the effort.
Dan Kemp served two terms as Hopkinsville’s mayor, from 2007 through 2014. He earned his law degree from the University of Kentucky and served four years in the U.S. Army as an officer in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He has practiced law in Hopkinsville since 1974 and has served on several local and state boards, including Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association, the Executive Board of the Kentucky League of Cities, the Murray State University Board of Regents and the Jennie Stuart Medical Center Board.
