A Message from County Judge Dan Mueller Regarding Hospital

To the residents of Fayette County: I give you information today about an unpleasant subject.

Our hospital in La Grange is on the brink of closure. We, the residents of this county have a problem, and we must face it. What I am about to share with you is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

St. Mark’s Hospital finished construction and opened in 2005. As in any major project, I am sure mistakes were made. It was probably built bigger than necessary. Mistakes were made by honorable people. Their intentions were honorable. In 2010, our problems began. A conglomerate known as Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) was given control of St. Mark’s Hospital. CHC is headquartered in Plano, Texas. So much is unknown about CHC. At least one person who sits on the board of CHC and also sits on our local board. They have made decisions that may have been good for CHC, but not for St. Mark’s. With threats of shutting down the hospital, we were told that we must pass a taxing district. When this taxing district failed 81% to 19%, we were told the hospital could not remain open. Then COVID hit. St. Mark’s and all other hospitals across America received significant government monies. CHC says the COVID money has expired and we are back to our crisis of not being able to keep the hospital open. Jan Dockery, the Mayor of La Grange, and I were told that unless money could be raised the hospital would apply to become a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) Facility meaning that initially 64 people would lose their jobs and services would be limited. There would be no surgery, no inpatient care. Working with Mayor Dockery, we were able to locate a hospital corporation who specializes in operating rural hospitals. The Mayor and I asked this company to consider the prospects of possibly taking control of St. Mark’s. The hospital corporation that Mayor Dockery and I contacted has an excellent record of saving rural hospitals.

At the inception of this country, Patrick Henry said, “I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.” In the past, this corporation has saved hospitals much like ours in Bellville, El Campo, Palacios, Llano and Trinity. Mayor Dockery and I have had conversations with state Senator Lois Kolkhorst. She is with us in this fight. We must keep St. Mark’s open. A full hospital facility. Failure is not an option. We need and we deserve our hospital. If our EMS personnel have to transport patients to Austin who would normally be admitted to St. Mark’s it will cost at least $1,150,000 according to EMS.

Strong healthcare is vital to our county and we depend on it. If we can successfully gain back control of this hospital, I pledge to you we will have transparency. Residents will get updates and we will know where things stand. Please join me. Let us band together. Let’s get this hospital back in the hands of the people who live here, people we trust.