Lakeland Community Hospital - Haleyville AL 35565

The lone hospital in Winston County is closing down by the end of this year, joining a growing list of urban hospital casualties in Alabama. Lakeland Community Hospital at Haleyville – previously known as the West Carraway Medical Center – said on its website it will close “for budgetary reasons.” A hospital spokeswoman said the Lakeland Community Medical Center is being closed because it had not received federal funds to keep the facility running in the face of declining enrollment. Federal authorities are not releasing details of why the facility did not qualify for the funding but officials have said they were unaware that the hospital would face the cut until the announcement was made public.\n\n \n\nThe hospital is a private facility and will be taken over by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. According to the hospital’s website, the closure was due to “a lack of revenue and declining enrollment.” “We have worked hard and tried to meet our patients’ needs, but unfortunately our revenue streams did not generate enough to sustain us,” said the hospital’s CEO, Dr. William C. Feltman. “When the hospital was in operation, there were many different health care organizations within the vicinity which provided quality care at competitive prices. As a result, we lost customers and the business began to decline in our area.” Lakeland Community Medical Center is one of six hospitals in the state and has a reputation for providing quality medical services in an urban setting.\n\n \n\nThe state health care system, run by the Department of Healthcare Services, has experienced budget cuts over recent years. According to agency officials, the agency expects its overall revenue to remain flat in the coming year, despite increases in enrollment. “It is difficult to pinpoint how many people will actually lose their current coverage because some of the cuts affect the types of services they receive and the types of services they pay for,” said the agency’s press release. “For those who do not have insurance, the cuts could mean that their care could be limited or that they won’t have access to necessary services at all. But it is important to remember that even without a substantial increase in revenue, the state can continue to provide affordable coverage to all who qualify under the health insurance reform legislation that was passed by the Obama administration last year.”