NEWS
Bowie once more without emergency medical care
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Starting at 7 a.m. Oct. 6 the City of Bowie will once more be without local emergency medical care as Faith Community Health System closes its emergency room, just a few weeks shy of its one-year anniversary.
It continues a tragic up and down cycle the city has dealt with since Bowie Memorial Hospital closed its doors on Nov. 16, 2015. That closure brought an end to 49 years of successful operation by a non-taxing hospital authority since May 1966.
That painful decision by the board back in 2015 came on the heels of the Nov. 3 election that failed to approve the creation of a taxing hospital district 1,732 to 1,548. About 130 hospital employees lost their jobs and another estimated 300-related jobs within the community were impacted.
This was the second failed hospital district election looking back to a May 2011 election that was defeated 1,644 to 973.
The controversy in this race came from including Forestburg Independent School District with Bowie ISD for the new district. The proposed tax rate offered to voters was 19 cents per $100 in property value and a rate not to exceed 40 cents.
When the hospital board began planning for this election it was announced some $1.2 million was cut from the hospital’s operating budget, while pending Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement cuts also reduced revenue with the hospital facing a cash shortfall of $900,000 in operations that year.
Unfunded federal mandates such as electric record management also hit the hospital to the tune of $1.2 million and had to be in place by 2013.
Those economic problems continued in the years that followed and rural hospitals continued to struggle and many close across the state. When the problems came to head again in mid-June 2015, former longtime administrator Lynn Heller said it is not an accident BMH got into this financial condition.
Read more on the history of the Bowie hospital in your weekend Bowie News.
A crew from Scarborough Engineering was working on control termination wiring in the control room of the Bowie Substation last week. They were integrating additional equipment including the new transformer. Once everything is connected it will go through a testing phase. The transformer project has been stalled during the past year awaiting the arrival of various parts. (News photo by Barbara Green
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
After more than a year of turmoil and upheaval it appears the Amon Carter Lake Water Supply Corporation is back on its feet with a slate of new board members and plans to review by-laws and operations.
Last August all the board members resigned in the wake of a lawsuit by a resident who could not obtain water for a small housing development despite being in the district. The property owner also accused the board of not following open meetings or open records laws, or its own by-laws.
After the board resigned a receivership was requested from the court and was named in December 2025. The receiver or temporary manager was Nocona attorney Zach Renfro, who was directed by the court to seek out possible directors to rehabilitate the association and assure it meets the obligation of continuing to provide water to more than 300 members.
The corporation board conducted its first general membership meeting on March 27 where a state of the corporation was given and new directors
named. They are Kevin McShan, president; Josh Swint, vice president; Carla Swofford, secretary; Wesley Kelly, treasurer; Zach Gunter, Rob Hankins and Chase Thomas, all directors.
Read the full story in your Thursday Bowie News.
The Bowie City Council meeting scheduled for April 28 was canceled due to the lack of a quorum.
Councilors Boyd Hulstine, Stephanie Post and Brent Shaw were present along with Mayor Gaylynn Burris, Four council members are required. Laramie Truax, Laura Sproles and TJay McEwen were absent. The agenda items were expected to be placed on the next agenda of business for the council.
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