12/08/15   Drew County Votes Today To Expand Hospital

Voters in Drew County go to the polls today to vote on an expansion project at Drew Memorial Hospital.  At present residents of Drew County pay a two-and-a-half percent countywide sales tax for roads, library and general funds. 

Voters are being asked to support a new quarter of a percent sales tax increase to help fund a 31 million dollar expansion project at Drew Memorial Hospital. Hospital administrators of the 49-bed facility are proposing to build a 57 thousand  square foot expansion that includes an outpatient clinic, a surgery center and birthing center with labor, delivery and nursery areas.

According to Drew County Judge Robert Akin, the county-owned hospital has two surgeons who are operating in facilities built in 1974. According to the Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette report, Akin says the expansion is a must to recruit more surgeons.