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HomeTown Health Hosts 2-Day Policy Maker Tour of Rural Georgia Hospitals

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group of legislators, hospital leaders

Policy Makers and Hospital Leaders

It is our honor and privilege to host these policy makers – we thank them for saying ‘yes’ to this invitation – to climb in, quite literally, to spend two days in a fast-paced tour of some of our rural hospitals throughout the state.


CUMMING, Ga. (PRWEB)

HomeTown Health resumed its annual policy maker tour in June 2021 after a ‘virtual’ tour option in 2020. “Policy Maker Tours” were begun in 2010 with a focus on bringing legislators and others from the Atlanta Capitol building onsite in rural hospitals to see the facilities, learn about their challenges, learn about their successes and get a real life view of the rural communities served by rural hospitals throughout Georgia. From their experiences on the tour, legislators have a more robust understanding of the impacts on rural healthcare within the state as well as through the healthcare industry structure at large. Policy Makers get to meet the leaders of rural facilities, put faces and names and facilities and towns, that connect with legislative decisions from the Capitol that impact rural healthcare in Georgia.

Throughout the two days, HomeTown Health took key policy makers from the Georgia Capitol – Rep. Terry England, Rep. Matt Hatchett and Martha Wigton from the Georgia House Budget & Resource Office – to seven rural hospitals. The driving tour has policy makers together for discussions with each other, the HomeTown team and the rural hospital leaders at each hosting location.

Hospitals hosting the policy tour were:


  • Taylor Regional Hospital, Hawkinsville, GA

  • Dodge County Hospital, Eastman, GA

  • Candler County Hospital, Metter, GA

  • Emanuel Medical Center, Swainsboro, GA

  • Jenkins County Medical Center, Millen, GA

  • Washington County Regional Medical Center, Sandersville, GA

  • Jefferson Hospital, Louisville, GA

Along the various hospital stops, additional legislators, Rep. Butch Parrish, Rep. Robert Pruitt, Senator Max Burns, Rep. Mack Jackson, Rep. Noel Williams, Senator Larry Walker, Jr., and Senator Carden Summers joined alongside local hospital leaders, board members, authority members and community leaders joined the tour to listen in and learn more about the challenges and successes of their local facilities.

“It is our honor and privilege to host these policy makers – we thank them for saying ‘yes’ to this invitation – to climb in, quite literally, to spend two days in a fast-paced tour of some of our rural hospitals throughout the state. It is our goal to provide policy makers a meaningful experience in rural healthcare while also giving our rural healthcare facilities an opportunity to more meaningfully connect with their policymakers,” says HomeTown Health CEO Jimmy Lewis, who serves as the chauffeur for the policy maker tour each year.

In addition to the hospital site visits, this year’s policy maker tour included a stop in at the America Knits factory in Swainsboro, GA. The America Knits location is a key contributor in a new “Field to Closet” initiative that is taking Georgia grown cotton into 16 hospitals in the form of free medical scrubs for hospital staff. Field to Closet worked with America Knits in Swainsboro, Georgia, to source Deltapine seed cotton grown in Georgia, which is spun into yarn at Parkdale Mills in Rabun Gap, Georgia and woven into fabric in North Carolina at Hornwood, before arriving at America Knits for the final production of the scrubs. Policy Makers were able to tour the factory, learn more about the initiative, and discuss other creative solutions to leverage Georgia Grown products and Georgia-based production to support rural hospitals within the state. Learn more about the Field to Closet Initiative here: https://www.americaknits.com/media-kit.

ABOUT HOMETOWN HEALTH

HomeTown Health, LLC, celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, serves rural hospitals throughout the United States. HomeTown Health, LLC offers advocacy, education, business partner services and support, healthcare industry conferences, and strategic support to its member hospitals as well as expansive grant-based resources through key partnerships with the Department of Public Health and Department of Community Health in many states. HomeTown Health, LLC is a network of rural hospitals, healthcare providers, and best practice business partners who collectively pursue ways to help its membership survive in the environment of constant change in reimbursement, operations and technology. HomeTown Health, LLC is committed to providing legislative representation, best practice solutions and continuing education and training through research and the continuous improvement of processes for healthcare providers. HomeTown Health’s vision is to support rural healthcare organizations in providing high quality, accessible, and competitive care through a heavily regulated and increasingly technology-dependent environment. HomeTown Health University (HTH’s education department) has a more specific vision to provide continuing education in various live and online formats that is high quality, current, effective, and applicable for its intended audience. Learn more at http://www.hometownhealthonline.com and more about its online education at http://www.hthu.net.

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