Editorial of January 2, 2025

Resolution in the New Year

Well, it’s that time again—the new year is just around the corner (or the ball has already dropped, depending upon when you get your copy of the paper or read this online), and many of us are bandying about new year’s resolutions that, let’s face it, probably won’t make it through January.

Rather than those sorts of resolutions, here at Iron String Press we have opted instead to focus on things for which we would like to see resolutions in the coming year.

Following an overview on Sunday, December 29 of 25 hospital and emergency department closures across the U.S. in 2024, by “Becker’s Hospital Review,” we would like to see Bassett Healthcare Network resolve its financial difficulties so that our region can continue to receive quality medical services. Both hospitals and emergency departments nationwide have been forced to shut down due to circumstances such as high costs and shifts in care needs. The Thomasville (Alabama) Regional Medical Center has halted operations indefinitely amid staffing shortages. The Hicksville, Ohio-based Community Memorial Hospital permanently closed on August 31 after temporarily shutting down in May due to financial challenges. New England Sinai Hospital, a 182-bed rehabilitation hospital in Stoughton, Massachusetts, closed at the end of March, citing “chronic low reimbursement rates” for Medicare and Medicaid services. Bassett officials have already improved the network’s bottom line in 2023, but there are many more hurdles and tough choices ahead.