The Mississippi County Quorum Court unanimously approved an appropriation ordinance that sends $1.2 million from the county general fund into the hospital fund.
In a meeting Monday, the Board of Governors of the Mississippi County Hospital System learned that the hospitals need nearly $4 million to fund operations of the two county hospitals for the remainder of the year.
After the appropriation, Justice John Alan Nelson, chairman of the Court's Finance Committee, explained that a committee was appointed by the hospital's board to help find solutions to these problems.
"I hope the public knows that the hospitals have the full support of the Quorum Court," Justice Michael White said. "We've done everything we possibly can to make sure we keep our hospitals."
Nelson agreed, saying citizens of the entire county should be "behind" the hospitals.
Nelson said the county had already spent $5.5 million on hospital operations this year, not counting the $1.2 appropriated Tuesday night.
The appropriation clears the balance in all hospital savings funds, said Brenda Burke, the county's financial director. The total funds remaining in county general, totaling $2.7 million, have to fund all county operations for the remainder of the year, unless the court chooses to cash in one of several interest-gathering savings accounts. The county has another $6 million in those accounts that can be used for any county operation, Burke explained.
Other appropriations included in the ordinance were $28,000 for new filing systems in the circuit clerks' offices; $250,000 for the new maintenance building and a new back hoe and bulldozer for the landfill; $8,000 in sales tax that was mistakenly left off invoices for imaging software; and $200 for a clothing allowance for a detective at the sheriff's department.
The court also approved a resolution naming the three successors to the position of sheriff, as dictated by new state law. The three who will succeed the sheriff on an interim basis are the CID captain, the patrol captain and the CID lieutenant.
The successor serves on an interim basis until the Quorum Court can name a replacement.