The Putnam County Board of Commissioners met on Aug. 30 and formally approved a more than $26.75 million Fiscal Year 2025 budget.
The FY 2025 Putnam County budget allots approximately $6.24 million for general government needs, such as civic officials’ salaries, risk management, public buildings, and public relations; just over $2 million for judicial expenses; $12.27 million for public safety, with nearly $5.35 million going to sheriff and jail operations, almost $4.22 million to fire and rescue services, $2.59 million for ambulance service, $69,391 to the coroner’s office, and just over $38,000 to emergency management.
The cultural and recreational budget totaled a little over $1.77 million, with $1.06 million going to the county recreation department and about $708,000 to the Uncle Remus Golf Course. Public works were allocated a little more than $2.73 million, and nearly $360,000 is earmarked for various county development initiatives.
The county’s health and welfare departments accounted for just over $1.37 million, accounting for approximately $336,00 for public transit, nearly $240,000 for the county health department, and $32,000 for family and children’s services. The Putnam County Health Department is budgeted for more than $239,400, and Putnam General Hospital was granted exactly $750,000.
However, the commission’s support for the hospital came under fire again immediately prior to the budget’s approval, with local residents Lesa Adams and Tom Thompson each addressing the council with a plea for increased funding for PGH.
Adams said she didn’t formally prepare any statements because she wanted to speak “straight from my heart.”
She said she’d spoken with each council member within the previous week, asking for increased funding for Putnam General Hospital.
She admitted, however, that for most of the 40 years she and her husband have lived in the area, they traveled to Savannah for their healthcare needs “because I didn’t have confidence here in our county.”
However, that changed about five years ago, she said, after positive experiences convinced them to address all their healthcare locally, including at PGH.
“Our hospital, we are so fortunate to have our hospital, the equipment they have, the people they have managing it now, the love and support that we get, we are just fortunate. I’m asking you to look in your heart, whittle your pencils, and help our hospital a little bit more,” she implored before the council.
Adams said she tried to arrange follow-up physical therapy for herself after a recent knee replacement but was met with delays and a lack of urgency at medical facilities near Lake Oconee. So, she turned to PGH and was seen the next day, she said.
“I was evaluated, and the next week I was there, and I was off of a walker within two weeks,” Adams told the council.
Adams added that she and her husband support PGH through the Georgia HEART program, which allows taxpayers to redirect their state tax liabilities to the rural hospital of their choice.
“It makes me feel good to know that I can see where our tax dollars are going, at least part of it,” she said, shortly before asking the commissioners to increase the county’s support of the hospital.
“Please look at your budget; please find it in your heart,” she asked of Commission Chairman Bill Sharp, Commissioners Jeff Wooten, Steve Hersey, Daniel Brown, and County Manager Paul Van Haute.
Following Adams, past county chairman Tom Thompson also addressed the commission. Thompson echoed Adams’ concern for patients less fortunate in Putnam County who are financially unable to pay for expensive, potentially life-saving treatment, or even routine healthcare procedures.
“We are looking at an economy where inflation is squeezing all of us,” Thompson pointed out. “I was saying our bad debts go up. People who, as Ms. Adams said, cannot pay. We have to look to our county for support. We have to. I mean, the hospital is just as much a function as any other function of county government.”
During a recent meeting, Thompson, a present member of the PGH authority board, appeared before the commission in a similar capacity and asked for an additional $310,000 to be allotted to the hospital’s support.
“The state legislature created the hospital authorities across the state rather than having them be a function under the county itself. But we have to trust you to back us up. You have to trust us to run the hospital correctly. And I think we’ve done our part of the job,” Thompson said. “We’ve asked you for an increase. I think a very modest increase when I look at some of the other functions of the county and compare it with what other counties are doing.”