Sales tax election set for proposed hospital in Crittenden County

Crittenden County voters will head to the polls March 1 to decide whether to re-direct a one-cent sales tax that supporters say will help build a new hospital in the county.

Crittenden County Judge Woody Wheeless said Tuesday that county officials are working with Memphis-based Baptist Healthcare to build a hospital somewhere in Crittenden County. The county has been without a hospital since September 2014, when the then-Crittenden Regional Hospital board voted to close the West Memphis hospital because of financial problems.

The attempt to re-open the hospital has gone back and forth with county officials working on the issue. County voters approved a five-year, one-cent sales tax on July 14 by a 2,888 to 444 margin (86.7 to 13.3%) to help operate the hospital.

The county then began to work with Nashville-based Ameris Healthcare on a plan to run the hospital. However, negotiations fell through, Wheeless said. Wheeless said county officials then began negotiating with the Baptist system, leading to the county partnering with Baptist on the new hospital.

The election in March will ask two things – first, to redirect the July sales tax revenues to build the hospital and second, to use revenue from the tax to pay back $30 million in revenue bonds needed for the project. Under the proposal, which is still being negotiated, the county will own the hospital and Baptist will lease it. If voters approve re-directing the tax, ground will be broken July 1, 2016 and construction is expected to take 18 months to complete.

With the tax that passed in July, Crittenden County has a 2.75% sales tax while West Memphis has a 9.75% and Marion has a 10.25% sales tax. The tax is expected to bring in about $30 million over the next five years, Wheeless said.

The proposal will help Crittenden County residents receive medical services, especially since the old hospital closed, Wheeless said. Since the hospital closed, people have had to go to Memphis, Forrest City, Osceola, Wynne and Jonesboro for medical help.

The proposed new hospital will be a 50,000-square-foot facility, Wheeless said, noting the hospital will offer basic services including an emergency room and inpatient and outpatient surgery. He said the proposed new hospital will not compete with nearby Memphis on specialty care.

Baptist officials are looking for a site with interstate access. Interstate 55 and I-40 run through West Memphis and Marion, with several retail and commercial businesses in the area.

As for the old hospital, Wheeless said the plan calls for the building to be sold, used by another company or will be demolished.