Since the Jellico Regional Hospital opened in 2020 it’s been forced to close its doors several times.

In four years the hospital has been under the management of three different companies. Within the last year alone, two other companies have tried to manage the hospital, but at the last minute, the deal fell through. The Jellico Regional Hospital has been closed since March.

Mayor Sandy Terry has announced that she officially signed off on Phoenix Rural Health to oversee the hospital.

Phoenix Rural Health is a group out of Jamestown led by CEO Mark Clapp, who was a doctor at Jamestown Regional Medical Center when it closed tells WVLT news “My hospital closed in 2019, and I decided that if I couldn’t fix mine, I should go fix others,” said Clapp.

According to Clapp, a big way to get the hospital in Jellico up and running is by getting the facility classified as a rural emergency hospital, which would come with a significant amount of federal funding. Clapp feels confident that reclassification will take place.

Regardless, he’s prepared to run this hospital and keep the doors open for more than a few months at a time. With the next closest hospital more than 30 miles away in Corbin or Lafollette, he hopes the change will make a big impact.

They are hoping to get the facility classified as a rural emergency hospital, which would come with a significant amount of federal funding. To cut down on costs they’ll initially get their emergency room up and running and providing X-rays, CT scans, and ultrasounds.

They hope to get the hospital back open in six to eight months.