Joan Jamison has been named Chief Executive Officer of Buchanan General Hospital.
      The hospital’s board of directors made the announcement Friday. Jamison accepted the position Tuesday, December 27.
      “I have a strong desire for the hospital to succeed in meeting the healthcare needs of our community, and for the members of our community to support and have confidence in the hospital,” Jamison wrote in a prepared statement.
       A native of Buchanan County, Jamison has been associated with Buchanan General Hospital for the past 26 years, serving in a number of management capacities including senior vice president of operations and interim chief executive officer.
      According to Sue Rife, president of the hospital’s board of directors, the board and medical staff have developed trust in Jamison, not only based on her long history with the hospital, but because of several positive developments that have occurred since she assumed an active administrative role.
      Among those developments include an overall improvement in the hospital’s financial status as a result of managing costs, renegotiating contracts and implementing changes in certain processes that were formerly not effective.
       Jamison reportedly has enhanced the working relationship between the board of directors, medical staff members and administration, which has strengthened the leadership of the hospital, according to hospital officials.
       Additionally, Jamison has developed a monthly seniors education program in an effort to educate senior citizens on important health-related topics.
        She is also currently working toward the implementation of a 40-Slice CT Scanner, ultrasound unit and PACS for the hospital’s radiology department.
        Plans call for this state-of-the-art equipment to be in place by May of this year.
       There has also been an increase in patient volume at the hospital since Jamison took the reigns.
         Hospital officials say they look forward to additional improvements and success under Jamison’s leadership.
 

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor

       The need to enforce existing litter laws in Buchanan County was discussed Monday during a meeting of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors when Harold Woods approached the board expressing his concerns about litter in the county.
       “There needs to be some law passed on litter,” Woods told the board. “What we have is not working and some kind of law is needed.”
       He said he was tired of seeing mattresses, washers, dryers and even dishwashers thrown out by the public.
        The illegal dumping of regular household garbage, he said, referring to a recent incident he witnessed where he said he saw a woman “raking garbage” out of the back of her car, was something he did not understand since the county has a house-to-house pickup that every resident in the county already pays for. Why someone would choose to haul off their garbage to dump it illegally when they could just set it out for pick-up is something he and others in the room agreed they just did not understand.
        Woods said about the incident he witnessed, he confronted the woman and she put the trash back in her vehicle. What she did with it when he was gone, he said, he did not know.
        A standing room only crowd got involved in the discussion at Monday’s meeting. Most were there for a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to prohibit cats and dogs from running at large (see related story, this issue), which board members ended up tabling for two years.
        In discussing the litter issues, South Grundy Chairman Roger Rife noted Litter Control Officer Pat Boardwine and his crews were doing a good job picking up litter, but he agreed with Woods that something needed to be done to put some teeth into existing litter laws and to get absolute proof which would allow law enforcement officers to prosecute.
        “We need to set an example,” Rife said.
        One suggestion offered by the crowd was that people littering lose their driver’s license for 60 to 90 days. He suggested that was one way to get attention.
         Rife said six to eight years ago he had asked about the number of litter citations issued and he said he could find very little proof of litter law enforcement
in the county.
        “You know somebody sees people litter,” Rife said.
        “We need enforcement. We need stiffer penalties.”

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       A resolution supporting a unified approach among the Cumberland Plateau Planning District counties to see a coal-fired energy production facility located in one of the four counties was approved Monday by the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors.
        The resolution, which has also been passed by Dickenson County and by the Cumber-land Plateau Planning District, also calls on the member counties to examine the development of a revenue sharing agreement to enhance the region’s selection as a location for an energy production facility.
       Buchanan County Economic Development Director Craig Horn noted that unless Russell County agrees to the resolution, the fact that Dickenson and Buchanan have agreed to it might not mean a lot.
        “It’s not as big a benefit as it used to be,” Horn said, noting that changes in state and federal law regarding energy deregulation will make the benefits of the plant location to the host county or counties less than it might have been previously.
        He said the document agreed to Monday needed to be followed up by a revenue sharing agreement, adding that Monday’s resolution was an indicator to the other counties the board would like to work on one.
        Hurricane Supervisor William P. Harris asked if he could go off the record for a moment but ultimately decided not to make the comment he first intended.
         Instead, he suggested to fellow board members “it’s in Buchanan County’s interest to support that.” South Grundy Chairman Roger Rife said some were saying Buchanan County did not have a shot at the plant being located in this county.
        “Dickenson County has offered us a great opportunity,” Harris said, without elaborating further.
         Horn added he did not think the county would have been invited to join the agreement if it didn’t have a shot.
        “I’d go ahead with this,” Horn said. “The next step is to work on the revenue sharing agreement."

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