Local Democratic Leaders Speak Out as Jacksonville’s Only Hospital Closes and Suspends Emergency Medical Services

JACKSONVILLE- Today, Jacksonville's only hospital, Unity Health, will shut down its emergency room and medical-surgical units, leaving the community without immediate in-city emergency medical services. This comes after Republicans at the federal and state levels slashed healthcare coverage for tens of thousands of Arkansans.

Jacksonville, Arkansas's 18th largest city, and the Little Rock Air Force Base, will be left without any local emergency healthcare services. In a press release from Unity Health CEO LaDonna Johnston, she states that the closure is the result of the current "healthcare climate."

Arkansas Democrats Chair Marcus Jones said: "Jacksonville's hospital closing is a direct result of the failures of the Republicans in Congress and in our State Legislature. When we take health insurance away from thousands of people, our local hospitals close, and those with insurance are left without an ER when they need it most. As a veteran who has relied on medical services at Little Rock Air Force Base, I am furious on behalf of the service members, military families, and fellow veterans who are now without an ER. They deserve better."

Rep. Mark Perry (D-66), a member of the Unity Health Advisory Council, said: "Every day, I see how slashing funding for Medicaid and healthcare affects the most vulnerable members of our community. It's disappointing. This hospital sat empty from 2019 to 2023 until Unity Health spent $36 million to reopen it. Now, only 2 years later, it's closing again. Our hospitals can't stay open in this climate, and this is the real-life impact of how we spend our state tax dollars. I pray for those who will be affected by this closure."

Healthcare professional Allison Grigsby Sweatman, the Democratic candidate for State Senate District 13 in Jacksonville, Sherwood, and North Little Rock, said: "I see patients struggle with the cost of healthcare every day in my practice, and I'm sick and tired of watching my patients and my neighbors suffer because Republicans would rather fund tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires than healthcare. My opponent Rep. Brandon Achor and his colleagues have been silent because this is a choice that they make every session, and until they are out of office, our hospitals will keep closing and our state will keep getting sicker."

Veteran Andrew Cade Eberly, candidate for State House District 67 in Jacksonville & Sherwood, said:"When emergency care isn't close to home, more people die. It should be obvious that when we rip healthcare coverage away from people, Arkansans either won't go to the doctor when they get sick, or when they do go, they will be forced to seek expensive emergency care. When uninsured people rack up unbelievably high medical bills that they will never be able to pay, our hospitals will close. It's a shame that Rep. Karilyn Brown won't do anything to ensure that the folks that she is supposed to represent can access local emergency care when they need it. I will keep fighting for the servicemembers stationed at the LRAFB, the thousands of veterans who live around it, and our communities in Jacksonville and Sherwood."