Carter County Commission Cowers Under Monopoly Pressure
Image Credit: Carter County / YouTube
Tennessee Stands / Tri-Cities Coalition –
Monday October, 24th was a stark contrast to the Carter County Commission meeting on September 18th.
At the September 18th meeting the commission bravely voted unanimously to have County Attorney Josh Hardin draft a resolution expressing their concerns with the management practices of the Ballad Healthcare Monopoly and its operation of Sycamore Shoals Hospital which is the only hospital in Carter County.
On October 24th, 11 commissioners stayed strong voting “yes” to see the resolution through, while 9 cowered and voted “no” and two abstained, while two were absent. Falling short of the 13 “Yes” votes needed.
Danielle Goodrich from Tennessee Stands stated in public comment leading up to the vote that “take control of healthcare, control the people is the first step to communism, that might seem like a stretch for where we find ourselves but look at the control in COVID and look at what Commissioner Holder stated in the last meeting,” and she read Holder’s quote about the Ballad threats. She asked, “is this healthcare, the mafia or communists we are dealing with?”
She stated “other states have repealed their CON programs yet Tennessee is slow stepping it.” She referenced a Becker’s Hospital review which ranked Ballad last in nurse satisfaction. She asked for the commission to be brave and not fall to fear.
James Adkins, a Carter County resident, during public comment stated that he found it troubling people were considering voting “No” out of fear.
Adkins stated, “I’m not just an American, I’m not just a Tennessean, I’m a resident of Carter County and the hospital we are talking about what is named for? Sycamore Shoals. And what happened at Sycamore Shoals? We went and told King George that we were going to live as free men. Were they scared of what King George would do if they lost? No. If Ballad is threatening this county because we have a resolution against their state sponsored monopoly. Then they are threatening the health and safety of our children.”
He went on to mention a 600-year-old doctrine called “The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate” and how it says those in authority even if they are not the highest authority in the land have a duty to intervene against tyrants and he stated that is the duty of the commission on behalf of the people.
James Byrd, a Carter County resident, stated, “Ballad threatening to remove services I believe that’s a violation of the Hobbs act and falls under state commerce.”
During his public comment, Byrd pointed to Ballad’s conflicting statements regarding the reason for the closure, stating the closure of the ICU wasn’t about cost savings but then in other quotes saying how the ICU closure was about cost savings.
Byrd brought up that Ballad, despite being a monopoly and not having competition or a need to advertise, had spent $8.6 million in advertising. He stated comparable health systems with competition only spent $130k.
Byrd expressed his concerns of Carter residents now being sent to Johnson City Medical Center citing safety and quality issues. He stated that the payouts to the Mountain States CEO prior to the merger could have probably kept their ICU open.
At the end of his public comment, Byrd dropped a bombshell stating that CEO Alan Levine has a potential conflict of interest as a stakeholder in a company called Axogen, which is a tissue bank.
Per Byrd, Axogen recovers specimens from people who pass away at the hospital and the tissues are recovered from the deceased locally and sent to Axogen in Florida. Byrd stated that CEO of Ballad, Mr. Levine, a former Florida resident, is on the board of Axogen and gets stock and stock options every quarter, wrongly profiting from the death of his patients.
When it was time to vote on the resolution, County Lawyer Josh Hardin read the resolution aloud, stating the concerns with the monopoly and urging legislators and the Tennessee Health Commissioner to act on their behalf.
Commissioner Nancy Brown motioned to approve and Commissioner Avery Wynn seconded.
Commissioner Kelly Collins stated, “Someone said we are afraid, I’m not afraid of making a hard decision, and this one is definitely very hard, and I’m not afraid of Alan Levine and maybe I should be…” but then went on to say that she shared the same fear-filled concerns of others and that she thought they were opening up a can of worms.
Angie Odom responded, saying that they tried all the other avenues, they tried talking to them, “Ballad leadership all sat in the front row of the commission and they hadn’t been back, yet more things close and they tried to get them to talk but they won’t.” And she hoped that the resolution would prompt open dialogue.
Commissioner Donnie Cable read a heartfelt story one of his constituents had sent him to read on her behalf regarding her mother’s horrific treatment received at Johnson City Medical Center ER and Cable said, “this is a very sad picture…this is her story and I’ve heard numerous stories, we’ve heard numerous stories here…”
Commissioner Willie Campbell who started the meeting in God-fearing prayer switched to man-fearing in his statements as he also expressed concern this measure was opening a can of worms.
When it was time to vote, the motion failed.
The life was sucked out of the room as the citizens in the audience stared in disbelief. Several said, “how could they go from unanimous to it not passing?”
James Adkins shouted “Cowards.”
The abstaining votes were Gary Kemp and Nick Holder.
Nick Holder’s abstain was unsurprising as he also abstained in the October 3rd HEW Committee meeting, which he chairs, claiming Ballad had threatened taking their ambulance grant over the vote to draft a resolution stating, “they were almost ready to take an ambulance from this county, because of that one meeting, it made them mad, luckily they changed, and that’s just one meeting, if we push this resolution through to Nashville, then what’s to keep them from making this a skeleton.”
Holder tried to say his reason for abstaining from the full committee vote was because he worked for Carter County EMS.
Josh Hardin, the County Attorney, stated he didn’t see that as a conflict of interest to abstain but that commissioners could abstain for whatever reason.
Gary Kemp stated he abstained because he has family that works at Ballad stating, “I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize them.”
The overwhelming reason that commissioners voted “No” or abstained was fear. In every case “jeopardize”, “threaten”, “opening a can of worms” “be careful” were the words and sentiments expressed.
Commissioner Odom and Commissioner Brown gave statements to WJHL after the meeting.
“We have people way out of the area that [are] looking into a lot more of this,” Odom said. “That even tonight at our meeting, there were people way out of our area that was watching this tonight. There’s been things that’s said that has added to some concerns that will be looked into as well. So I can’t say that tonight’s vote is a negative. I say that it’s our voices together.”
“I was really hurt that it didn’t pass, because I felt like a lot of our citizens wanted this to be sent,” Brown said. “It was like them [residents] getting to say what they wanted to say. And it get to Nashville. Maybe we had a chance of getting something done.”
Commissioner Odom gave a statement to Tennessee Stands stating:
“God doesn’t always give you an army to go into battle. All He needs is you trusting Him, and being willing to go. You never want to go into battle with those that are weak or doesn’t have the same goal because they will just make you stumble. You will end up carrying them along the way and getting distracted.
We still have 11 voices that can provide letters plus our state representatives letters, signatures and letters from citizens for our voices to be heard. Last night’s vote only shows how people are too fearful to stand against this company and fear that their loved ones would be mistreated at work. Yet people can go into a restaurant and get furious if they get served the wrong food. It’s time we all have a backbone to stand for truth not just when it comes to Ballad Health, but other subjects, too….”
Commissioner Odom ended her statement with the following Bible verses.
1 Timothy 6:10-12
10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
11 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
To reach out to the Carter County Commission regarding their vote on the Ballad Resolution see below.
Yes votes (thank):
nancy.brown@cartercountytn.gov
julie.guinn@cartercountytn.gov
jerry.proffitt@cartercountytn.gov
lisa.childress@cartercountytn.gov
ginger.holdren@cartercountytn.gov
donnie.cable@cartercountytn.gov
aaron.frazier@cartercountytn.gov
Abstain:
nick.holder@cartercountytn.gov
No:
steve.burrough@cartercountytn.gov,
brad.johnson@cartercountytn.gov,
layla.ward@cartercountytn.gov,
thomas.proffitt@cartercountytn.gov,
kelly.collins@cartercountytn.gov,
cody.mcqueen@cartercountytn.gov,
jason.clawson@cartercountytn.gov
daniel.mcinturff@cartercountytn.gov
Willie Campbell (423) 547-0085 (call, he said it would be opening a can of worms)
Absent :
robert.acuff@cartercountytn.gov
jason.rasnick@cartercountytn.gov
Watch the meeting below:
