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To the Editor:
On Monday evening, I attended the Public Hearing held by the Tennessee Department of Health in which citizens were allowed to offer their comments concerning Ballad Health and their compliance with the Certificate of Public Advantage, which was granted when Mountain States and Wellmont merged. I have been particularly troubled in recent months as Ballad has removed services from Sycamore Shoals Hospital, most recently announcing the removal of the Intensive Care Unit. Their changes to our hospital have diminished our health care and should be a concern to all of us in the area. My reason for this letter is to thank the commissioners who not only attended the meeting, but who spoke eloquently on our behalf: Donnie Cable, Ginger Holdren, Danny Deal, Lisa Childress, Angie Odom, and Todd Smith. I also want to thank Commissioners Robert Acuff, Kelly Collins, Julie Guinn, and Nancy Brown, who were not given the opportunity to speak, but they were at the meeting. I appreciate these representatives who gave up an evening at home to come out and fight for our hospital and our community. They made me proud to be a Carter County citizen.
If you wish to share your opinion of Ballad’s Healthcare System and particularly what they are doing to Sycamore Shoals, send your comments to tn.health@tn.gov. by June 19.

Dr. Charlene Thomas
Elizabethton