CROSSVILLE’S JOHNNY (JJ) PRESLEY BEATS ODDS, REOPENS CLAY COUNTY HOSPITAL
Crossville native Johnny (JJ) Presley may have been booted off the US Senate ballot, but he’s never given up on reopening one of many rural closed hospitals. His efforts finally paid off this past weekend.
Cumberland River Medical Center in Celina closed last June, but owner Johnny Presley has worked for months to reopen it. Since Presley bought the hospital, he has meandered through bureaucracy and red tape to pull open the doors of the Clay County hospital once more.
This comes as healthcare workers are needed more than ever in the fight against COVID-19.
“I feel unbelievable,” Presley said. “It’s great to know that I, finally, after nine months of hard work and misery, finally getting this thing to fruition and getting it open.”
The reopening has proven difficult for Presley, waiting months to get a medical provider number, but wrangling with the state, the first patient was seen last weekend. Presley’s challenge now is to make his restructuring viable long term.
“I don’t want this to be my last one,” Presley continued. “I want to start a trend with this. Rural hospitals all across America for their communities.”
As far as Presley knows, the Celina hospital is the first rural hospital in Tennessee — one of the first in the country — to reopen after closure. The Volunteer State still has 18 counties lacking an emergency room, however.
Presley has hired back Dr. Harry Horne who has worked at the hospital before, and Horne is joined by four other physicians as Presley has streamlined services to make the hospital more efficient but able to offer a wide variety of treatment.
Most drive times for emergency care in Clay County shrunk with Cumberland River’s reopening from 30 minutes to 10.
“Now with this pandemic, we see how vulnerable we are not just in large metropolitan areas but in rural areas as well,” said Presley who has worked as a physician’s assistant and owns three clinics in Jamestown, Clark Range and Crossville. WATCH NEWS VIDEO HERE
PRESLEY REMOVED FROM U.S. SENATE BALLOT BY TN REPUBLICAN PARTY
