White County Hospital Set To Reopen

A White County, Illinois nursing home and hospital are set to reopen after being closed for more than two years. A non profit foundation is on a mission to help the facilities get back up and working for the community. Chris James works for the White County Ambulance Service. Since the countys hospital closed in December 2005, his job became a lot tougher. Now ambulance director, Lance Trousdale tells us the closest hospital they drive to is 23 miles away. Thats why the Phoenix Foundation of Southern Illinois was formed. Its main goal, to re-open these doors that previous owners left abandoned. More than two years later plans to re-open the hospital and its neighboring nursing home are nearing completion. The nursing home may open as soon as next week, and the hospital, just a few months after. The closing of the facilities had a major impact on the community. Many of the elderly from the nursing home passed away just a few months after the closing. And now more lives are at risk everyday. Trousdale says getting a patient to a hospital can take as long as 40 to 50 minuets. The community is apparently more than ready for the hospital to re-open. Various groups have gone so far as to donate time and labor to the renovation project, and many of them hope their efforts will keep health care in the area from having to go on life support again. The open house for the nursing home is this Thursday. Theyre expecting more than 300 people to walk through.