Phillis is the executive director of the Greene County Industrial Development Authority. Her role is to attract new businesses to the community as well as work to retain existing business and industries.
She is concerned about her ability to do her job well if the county’s only hospital were to close. “What business wants to move to a town that’s closing hospitals?” she said. The Greene County Hospital is one of several rural hospitals across the state of Alabama that is operating in a deficit in part because the state didn’t expand its Medicaid program. Greene County Hospital provides about $100,000 per month in uncompensated care. If more people had access to health insurance, it would reduce the deficit that Greene County Hospital and other hospitals face.
“I don’t know that there would be any options if the hospital were to close,” Phillis said. “It’s a matter of life and death. The hospital has saved so many lives in Greene County.”
As the head of the Industrial Development Authority, Phillis understands the economic impact of Medicaid. “If you invest in healthcare, you can help grow your economy because you’re creating jobs. People are going to work, they’re spending more money in stores and investing in real estate, investing in the schools. So it helps the entire community to have a good healthcare system.”
Want to see more of Phillis’ story? Watch On the Edge: Health Care in Alabama, a short film featuring community members and health professionals from across North Carolina sharing their challenges and triumphs as they strive to take care of themselves, their families, and their communities.