ABBEVILLE, Ala. — Rural areas such as Opp in Covington County and Geneva both have a local hospital where residents can be treated for emergency situations. However, in Henry County, that’s not the case.
“Every citizen in the county would like to see us with a hospital we once had a thriving hospital but it was the victim of a lot of small counties. Other contentious counties have hospitals we don’t,” Henry County Commission Chairman David Money said.
In the past, Henry County transformed its one and only hospital to a nursing facility in town — Henry County Health and Rehabilitation Center, which has played a tremendous part in providing care for citizens to get them through the pandemic.
Henry County Commission Chairman David Money said they may not have a huge medical facility like other areas but they serviced the need of a hospital with the three good medical clinics in the county.
“What COVID did was not necessarily make us more aware of the need of a hospital but it made us more cautious of the nursing facilities the assisted living facilities that we have now,” Money said.
Money is fully behind having a hospital in Henry County but of course, the only issue that lies at the forefront is funding a brand new building along with having the beds and getting together a medical staff.
Although he sees there being no hospital in Henry County any time soon, he does have an option in mind that can suit the county better going forward.
“An emergency unit, if its an emergency situation and they need medical care and there’s not enough time to get up to the Dothan they can be treated there until its enough time to get transferred to Dothan,” He added.
Money said it’s not as simple as writing a check and building a hospital but he hopes in the near future Abbeville residents can stay in the county to receive emergency procedures.
