SCH Officials say Georgia Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program is best option to save the hospital

The Stephens County Hospital held a meeting this morning to provide an update on the hospital along with explain the impact Stephens County Hospital has on economic development in Toccoa-Stephens County.

Stephens County Hospital Interim Chief Executive Officer Van Loskoski says they want the community to thrive.

“We want our community to thrive, we want our community to do well, we want our industry to continue to sustain itself, we want our families to continue to set up here, and healthcare is integral piece of that. It’s something that you should be cognizant of when you’re choosing where you receive your healthcare services,” he said.

Loskoski says the hospital is losing money; but he wants the public to know that Stephens County Hospital provides the same level of care, if not better, than some other hospitals.

“So, a lot of what you’ve heard is that the hospital is losing money, it is, and it has been for quite some time. It’s really easy to drive past us, so we want to make sure we’re capitalizing on volume and reassuring people that we’re providing a good service here. Our CMS Star rating is three stars, that’s out of five, most hospitals are in that category. But I think you would be surprised at how our quality compares to some hospitals you might expect to be at a higher quality than us, that’s not the case for a lot of situations,” he said.

He continued to explain that one option that could save the hospital is through the Georgia Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program.

“The other aspect of this meeting that I really want to get the word out is how that you can help. I’ve heard over the last two weeks in particular ‘what can we as a community do to help,’ well first, if you’re not using our services, you can use our services—if you need them. But we want to be the primary and premier healthcare provider in our region. If we don’t have your trust, I’m going to do everything I can to earn it. The other aspect of it is ‘what’s the immediate solution?’ Well, there’s one opportunity that everyone can contribute in. There’s a program in Georgia called the Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program, and that program allows you to direct your state income tax directly to a hospital of your choice in a rural market, and that is a huge benefit to us because what it does is it gives you a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on your state income tax. So, you give us a dollar, you get a dollar back on your state income tax,” he said.

He says the Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program is hugely beneficial for everyone.

“That is hugely beneficial for individuals and for companies; organizations can do this as well. This is a way I personally contribute. We’ve set a system here at our hospital where our employees can set aside their withholdings, and rather than directing them toward the state income tax, they direct them to this program to receive their credit at the end of the year. It’s a replicable program that other companies we hope will consider implementing, that would be a tremendous step forward in helping set aside some opportunities for funding for healthcare,” he said.

To learn more about the Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program contact Stephens County Hospital Foundation Director Pamela Jones at 706-282-4254 or via email at [email protected].