Wheeless announces end of 1-cent hospital tax

County judge lauds community for support of Baptist-Crittenden as voter-approved measure

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ralphhardin@gmail.com It was a dark day in 2014 when after 60 years of service to the local community, Crittenden Regional Hospital closed its doors, leaving more than 50,000 area residents without easy access to emergency health care and other vital medical resources.

After a handful of valiant efforts to revive the hospital and an ill-fated attempt to attract other health care providers, the efforts of Crittenden County Judge Woody Wheeless and others paid off with the construction of a new Baptist Hospital in West Memphis.

As part of the package that drew Baptist to the county, voters approved a one-cent sales tax that would partially fund the first stage of getting the hospital built and open for business, beginning in 2016.

“Five years ago, I asked you to support a one-cent sales tax to build a new hospital for our county,” Judge Wheeless said in a message to the community.

“You went to the polls and voted 86% in support.”

The wording of the proposal was sold with an end date in sight.

“I promised you that the tax would sunset in five years and I heard some say that once a tax is put in place, it never goes away,” he said. “Language was put in the ordinance that prevented the tax continuing without a vote of the people. Today, I’m proud to say the tax has ended and we have a thriving hospital that’s taking care of our citizens, especially during this historical pandemic we are experiencing.”

The tax was projected to collect about $6 million annually to give the hospital an opportunity to establish itself and become selfsufficient.

“Thank you for believing in me and believing in a great vision and future for our county,” Wheeless said. “Together, all things are possible. God bless you and please stay safe,” Michael Coulter, who is now retired but wrote extensively about Wheeless’s efforts to safe Crittenden Regional and then bring Baptist to the county while working at the Evening Times, was quick to sing the judge’s praises.

“You personally solved a major health issue caused by the the financial failure of the former Crittenden Regional Hospital,” said Coulter. “You also worked the deal with the state corrections officials to occupy the county-owned old hospital. I recognize you for your major accomplishes.” The massive old hospital was converted to a minimum security women’s correctional and rehabilitation center operated by the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections, bringing jobs to the community while repurposing the facility which would have otherwise become a vacant eyesore or have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to raze.

Wheeless also took the opportunity to look back at the previous year and set the stage for progress in 2021.

“As I reflect back on 2020, things were going pretty good for our county until March when the Coronavirus appeared and

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County Judge Woody Wheeless HOSPITAL (cont.)

started making people sick and even taking their lives,” he said. “2020 presented so many challenges in our lives. Many people lost their jobs while others lost their businesses.

Unemployment soared to an all time high. To say we have been stressed would be an understatement. We started wearing masks, using hand sanitizer and social distancing.”

Wheeless made it a priority to keep his constituents informed as the pandemic raged.

“On social media, you would see someone make a post about someone they knew who was sick with COVID-19, but maybe you didn’t know that person.

Then as recent as the past few months, posts on social media were hitting home with people we all knew who had tested positive for the virus,” he recalled.

“We’ve watched loved ones test positive and quarantine with no symptoms while others exhibited only mild symptoms. Then the virus took a major toll on our communities and we started seeing loved ones who were very sick but survived and those who unfortunately didn’t survive.”

Wheeless himself battled for weeks with the coronavirus. Marion’s longtime police chief Gary Kelley passed away from COVID19 in December. The current local coronavirus death toll is 80, up two more fatalities just this week.

“During these difficult times what I’ve witnessed is our communities coming together with support, love and prayers for those dealing with hardships and sickness,” he said. “We witnessed history in 2020 with the pandemic but we also witnessed God uniting us to love one another and be kinder and more supportive to one another.”

Wheeless described 2020 as “a year we will never forget.”

“As you know, my wife and I had a bout with Covid and was blessed to have survived and for that we give all the praise and glory to God,” said the judge. “We are grateful for the love, prayers and support that was shown to us from the community. As 2021 begins, it brings hope that we can beat the virus and find the normalcy we had. I ask that you continue to pray for those who are sick and those who are dealing with some sort of a hardship.”