By Staff
News Release
News release from Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson:
As a Beaufort County Commissioner and a member of the Beaufort Regional Health System (BRHS) Hospital Authority Board, I understand this morning that Community Health Systems (CHS) has chosen to withdraw their proposal to lease our hospital.
In my opinion, the majority of the elected Beaufort County Board of Commissioners continues to remain committed to securing the best business arrangement that will produce the highest quality health care for the people of Beaufort County.
Jerry Langley, Chairman of the elected Board of Commissioners, said this morning, “The County Commissioners will continue its thorough study of available alternatives for the operation of our community’s hospital. We have good proposals still on the table and we want to protect the value of this most important county asset.”
In my opinion, Beaufort County’s options for future hospital management include an offer from LHP, Inc. Their proposal allows the community to continue to have a voice in hospital operations. We will also continue the study of an offer from University Health Systems (UHS) and, finally, the possibility of continuing to operate the Hospital ourselves.
Other viable proposals existed early on in the Hospital Authority Board’s RFP process that may now demand further review of not only the elected Board of County Commissioners, but also the appointed Hospital Authority Board.
I look forward to continuing my work with both the appointed Hospital Authority Board and the elected Board of County Commissioners to find the best operator for our community’s hospital.