YADKINVILLE—Yadkin County now making progress towards reopening the county's only hospital after it abruptly closed this May.
The county has now entered into contracts with two companies that will help it reopen the doors to Yadkin Valley Community Hospital.
"We've painted, we've had the carpets cleaned, the tile floors have been waxed and shined,” said county manager Lisa Hughes. “People are saying 'wow, it actually smells clean in here!'"
The first priority is to get the physicians' practice side of the hospital back open.
"We've been having conversations with Dr. McGrath,” Hughes said. “Hopefully he will be back here in the next two to four weeks. We are waiting on him to get all of his credentialing."
Dr. James McGrath was a family practicioner at the hospital.
The county has also entered into a contract with Tennessee-based Spectrum Health Partners.
"They will go over the finances on what will really be profitable, and what we can keep here in the county,” said county commissioner David Moxley.” They may also come up with some things we shouldn't do financially as well."
"At the same time, we're having another company - Criterion Healthcare out of Concord - and they're coming in and looking at our facility, and saying 'OK, if you want to provide these services, this is what you need to do for the facility,’” Hughes said.
County leaders say that once they get the physicians' side of the hospital back open, their next goal is to open critical parts, like the emergency room, and its lab.
"Which would really benefit us, because even with the county now with testing for employment, we have to send things to outside labs," Moxley said.
The county's also planning on hosting a series of public forums in the coming months to get citizens' feedback about what they want to see in the reopened hospital.