MP Katie Dempsey allegedly makes false claims at recent Rotary Club meeting

At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Rome, Republican Rep. Katie Dempsey of Rome claimed that President Obama was responsible for the closure of Northwest Regional Hospital. She also claimed that President Biden would “keep it closed.” Researchers have determined that neither claim is true. The hospital was closed in 2011 by then-Governor Nathan Deal, a decision that continues to negatively impact Rome and Floyd County.

When the hospital closed, 800 hospital staff lost their jobs and dozens of patients had to find housing and someone to care for their needs. These patients faced insurmountable problems, even if they had families to care for them. Community-based resources were nonexistent or underfunded. As a result, many became homeless or ended up in jail. Community-based systems were overwhelmed and the effects are still being felt in 2024.

Dempsey served on the state’s Behavioral Health Coordinating Council and knows the circumstances surrounding the hospital closure. Dempsey repeated Governor Deal’s promises at the time that the funds were in place to provide quality care in the community. No funds were provided, and after the decision was made, nothing was done to avert the disaster that followed for many of the former patients. Dempsey’s claims that there were repercussions at the federal level proved false, as the closure was decided at the state level.

U.S. Senators Ossoff and Warnock recently committed $2 million to redevelop the hospital site, which was sold to our local development authority in September 2021 under Governor Brian Kemp. It is hoped that redeveloping the site will create new, good-paying jobs in the heart of our county. In the meantime, Rome and Floyd County continue to grapple with the impact of the decision to close Northwest Regional Hospital on those who were left homeless and deprived of needed services.

(In 2007, families of patients at seven Georgia psychiatric hospitals sued the state of Georgia for poor treatment and care at those facilities. Forty-two Rome families were involved in the case (Olmstead v. LC). Federal courts and the Department of Justice found the care to be substandard and ordered Georgia to improve patient care and monitor progress, or lack thereof. Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities decided it would cost less to close hospitals and move patients to community-based care. The problem was that the state was not prepared to provide or manage community-based care, and the problem was complex.)

For more information on the care and well-being of patients with mental illness and developmental disabilities, visit ada.gov.