The final countdown is on. This week, the New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Board of Trustees approved a resolution supporting commissioners moving to the possible sale of the public hospital.
New Hanover County Commissioners will soon vote whether to explore the sale of the Medical Center.
On Wednesday night, County Manager Chris Coudriet and hospital CEO John Gizdic spoke at the last public forum on the subject at the Union Hall on 5th Avenue.
“What are you going to do to ensure the no layoff policy and other policies are in place to protect our blue and pink collar workers?”
Many of the questions were the same as past meetings. What’s the rush? Why sell the hospital now? Have there been backroom deals? What would you do with the money?
The meeting was sponsored by the New Hanover County Democratic Party. The first two forums had been sponsored by the County. Party Chair Richard Poole.
“In part because we wanted to have a forum that was free that was available to folks in the African American community because they're an important part of the history of this hospital. There's a problem now with trust in the community, and I think they're trying to address that by being more explicit about the process that they're going to go through. And I think they need to address the trust issue.”
The audience was evenly divided between African-Americans and whites.
The vote is Tuesday. Vince Winkel, WHQR News.