The emergency room operations at the former Mercy Hospital sit vacant.
The Citizens for an ER group “do not see a way forward to have a provider reestablish an emergency room in Bourbon County,” said Craig Campbell, a member of the citizens’ group, ” if the May 14 vote for a sales tax is not approved.
“The Citizens for an E.R. committee appreciate the concerns, the insightful questions, and the support of the Uniontown and the Fort Scott town hall attendees,” Randy Nichols, another member, said. “Please vote to reopen our E.R. Early voting starts May 6th at the courthouse. Voting on May 14th will be at your usual polling location.”
Members of the group are Jamie Armstrong, Campbell, Lynda Foster, Charles Gentry, Mark McCoy, Nichols, and Douglas Ropp.
The group has held two public input meetings, one on April 11 in Fort Scott and one in Uniontown on April 24, to help tell the benefits of reestablishing an ER and get questions from the community.
To view the prior story on the first citizen’s input meeting:
The attendees of the town hall meeting in Uniontown on Wednesday had approximately 15-20 people.
“We opened the meeting stressing the importance of an emergency department to the citizens of Bourbon County,” Campbell said.
At the Uniontown meeting, there were new questions asked: “Concerns expressed at the meeting involved what the money could be spent for, why we need an ER. , and where would it be located,” Nichols said
Randy Nichols said “The ballot language is specific, stating for the five-year tax duration, (he quoted from the ballot), “Said tax shall be used as needed for establishment and operation of an emergency department in Bourbon County.” If an E.R. is not established the ballot states, “upon termination, remaining tax funds shall be used for EMS and /or property tax reduction as determined by the Bourbon County Commissioners.”
“In other words, the money can only be spent on an E.R,” Nichols said. “It cannot be used on other projects and would be returned to the community if we do not get an E.R. A citizens committee has been appointed by the Commission to review and periodically report to the public that the money is being spent as per the ballot language.”
The needs for an ER are many, Campbell said.
“There is a need to protect those with failing health, workers in hazardous occupations, and children playing contact sports, being able to retain and recruit businesses in Bourbon County,” he said.
“It allows our citizens quicker access to doctors, nurses, lab and radiology techs and medications that can assess and treat the health issues being presented,” Campbell said. ” Our Emergency Medical Service is top-notch! The Rural Emergency Health mentioned earlier was written for places like Bourbon County. It stresses 1) solid primary care, 2) great EMS, and 3) an emergency department. We had these in place until last December 20th. This tax question when passed would restore our three-pronged strategy to effective healthcare in Bourbon County.”
The tax is small per person.
“We reminded folks that the 0.25% sales tax would add 25 cents to the cost of a $100 purchase at the store, “Campbell said. ” And that the tax has a five-year hard stop on it.”
“The tax can only be used to support reopening our ER and its ongoing operation,” he said. “The next step would be to get Congress to re-date the effective date of the Rural Emergency Hospital Act to December of 2015 so that hospitals such as Fort Scott’s would be eligible to receive funding for the emergency hospital.”
Graphic provided by the Citizens For an ER.
“It will operate in its previous area within the former hospital at 401 Woodland Hills Boulevard,” Campbell said. “Medical equipment remains there as the result of a donation by Ascension (Via Christi, which closed operations at that site in December 2023).
“The current site is available and ready as it is fully equipped with lab, x-ray, CT scanner and ultrasound,” Nichols said. “These were gifted to the county by Ascension Via Christi -Pittsburg saving on the cost of reopening. The building also has room for expansion to include observation beds and outpatient services (for example out patient surgery) if Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation can be obtained in the future.”
“Rural Emergency Hospital is a federally funded designation supporting an E.R., observation beds, and out-patient services,” Nichols said. “This is a program not yet available to Bourbon County but having an E.R. is the first step to achieve the expanded services of REH. Having REH would relieve the need for community tax support.”
“The attendees praised the EMS service but also supported the need for an E.R.,” Nichols said. “Having an E.R. is a needed part of our health care delivery system. An emergency room and EMS are mutually beneficial services. Having an E.R. improves our overall community health outcomes. “(We) recognize most E.R. visits are by walk-in patients so without an E.R. it’s likely there will be more ambulance calls and all runs will be out of the county. Statistically, a majority of those people will not require hospitalization and would be better/ more efficiently served locally. An E.R. was also recognized to have county-wide economic development and long-term property tax benefits.”
The Vote Here sign sits in front of the north wing of the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. Nationa. There will be a sales tax question on the ballot on May 14, 2024.
Tuesday 4-30-2024 Update from the Bourbon County Emergency Management Director Brian Allen.
The following roads are still closed due to high water:
218th from Native to 235th
Xavier east to the state line
205th from Maple to 54 highway
155th & Limestone is closed in all 4 directions.
Limestone Rd from 145th to 175th
155th from Kansas to Maple.
Highway 31 from Fulton to Mapleton is now open per KDOT.
215th & 54 highway is also now open.
The following roads are closed at this time and will be for a longer period of time.
100th & Soldier (culvert washout)
215th Xavier to Yale (asphalt washout)
North Crawford (road west of Pete’s north store going south towards Walnut Hill. (Asphalt & Culvert)
Hackberry 95th to 112th (culvert washout)
60th from Grand to Hackberry (2 bridges out)
215th from Indian to Hackberry (culvert and road surface)
Express 160th to 170th (bridge out)
115th Xavier to Yale (bridge out)
The Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department is located between 6th and Lowman Streets and 6th and Horton Streets.
SEK Multi-County Health Department is offering free tetanus shots for individuals affected by the recent flooding. Tetanus shots will be available to impacted residents as well as first responders, volunteers, or any others who have been or will be assisting with recovery and cleanup efforts.
Free tetanus shots will be available by appointment at the SEK Multi-County Health Department in Iola, Garnett, and Fort Scott while flood response continues.
Addresses of these three locations are as follows:
Allen County (Iola): 411 N. Washington Ave. Iola, KS 66749
Anderson (Garnett): 301 S. Vine, Garnett, KS 66032
Bourbon County (Fort Scott): 524 S. Lowman, Fort Scott, KS 66701
Tetanus vaccines are recommended for people of all ages. Adults need a tetanus booster shot every 10 years, but health care providers may recommend a booster sooner due to an injury or other health concerns.
Tetanus bacteria are everywhere in the environment, including soil, dust, and manure. Tetanus is most commonly caused by the bacteria getting into the body through broken skin, usually through injuries from dirty objects. During evacuation and flood cleanup, residents affected by flooding, emergency responders, cleanup workers, or volunteers may be at increased risk for these injuries. For this reason, these people should be sure that they are up to date with tetanus vaccination. This can be done by talking with your health care provider or reviewing your vaccination record.
Tetanus is commonly known as “lockjaw,” and is a serious disease that affects the nervous system and causes painful muscle contractions, particularly of your jaw and neck muscles. Tetanus can cause severe breathing problems and in serious cases, lead to death. There is no cure for tetanus.
Please call the SEK Multi-County Health Department for more information at:
Graphic from the National Weather Service, Springfield, MO, which monitors Bourbon, Cherokee, and Crawford Counties in Southeast Kansas. The Bourbon County flood warning is on the left in the graphic.
Storms this weekend included a tornado and major flooding in Bourbon County.
Because of almost 10 inches of rain, area rivers have gone out of their banks.
The Marmaton River crested at 47 feet on April 28, and is predicted to go back down to 30 feet by Tuesday afternoon, according to Peyton Camden, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Springfield, Mo, which monitors conditions in Bourbon, Cherokee, and Crawford Counties in Kansas.
Rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week.
“Depending on how much rain we get, there could be a second crest,” she said.
County roads and city streets in low-lying areas were flooded, but as of today, almost all are passable.
Tornado
A tornado touched down in rural Bourbon County on the evening of Friday, April 26.
“It touched down at about 85th and Poplar Roads on Friday evening,” Bourbon County Emergency Management Director Brian Allen said. One home near Quail Road was also affected, he said.
The Clare George property on Poplar Road. Damage to the roof and windows of the house, left, and several outbuildings, middle and right, in the photo, were affected by the tornado. Photo by Susan George.
Clare George’s home, northeast of Uniontown, had the windows blown out on three sides and some roof damage, plus outbuildings damaged.
Flood damage
Brad Matkin, Fort Scott City Manager said most city streets are reopened following the floods this weekend.
“20th Street from Hwy. 69 to Cooper Street is still closed because of road destruction,” Matkin said on the city’s Facebook page. Clark Street from Wall Street to Third Street is still closed until the manhole flooding stops, and the Fort Scott Lake road by the spillway is still closed, he said. Fort Scott Lake homeowners can access via Hwy. 69 to Hackberry Road.
The city crews are out working to get things back to normal, Matkin said.
This is a drone photo of Gunn Park as of this morning.
Eric Bailey, Bourbon County Public Works Director, referred road condition questions to Fort Scott/Bourbon County Dispatch.
The dispatcher said all roads in the county are open now, but people should be aware there is some damage to the roads.
Local Ponds Were Built to Help With Floods
Dams were built in the 1980s for helping to alleviate the excess water from floods.
Frank Young, the contracting officer for both the Marmaton and Mill Creek Watershed Districts, stated “the watershed dams aren’t constructed with the capacity to totally control runoff from extremely large rainfall events covering the drainage areas above each structure (pond). They will totally control the runoff from a 25 year storm which is around 4.8 inches of rainfall in a 6-hour period. The rest of the runoff from a larger rainfall event than 4.8 inches in 6 hours, will pass through the dam’s emergency spillway with some, but not total, control of that extra runoff”.
” Marmaton WSD has 28 completed structures that control roughly 25% of the total drainage area of the Marmaton River above Mill Creek. Mill Creel WSD has 14 completed dams that control roughly 28% of the Mill Creek drainage area. The two districts together control roughly 27% of the total drainage area above Ft. Scott,” Young said.
“When a huge rainfall event occurs over the entire river drainage area of just over 240,000 acres, over 70% of this area is uncontrolled,” he said. “The combined districts have plans to build structures that would control around a total of 60% of this area when completed.”
“Both Districts have planned structures awaiting permits to construct more dams from the Corps of Engineers,” Young said. Ever since Hurricane Katrina.. permits to construct dams have become increasingly difficult to obtain from these federal agencies. The last major dam construction ended for the Marmaton District in 2015. Since then no permits have been issued by the Corps to allow these Districts to continue their flood protection program.”
“The existing dams were constructed with state of Kansas grant money along with local cost share money raised from mill levies and landowner participation,” he said. “The districts both inspect their dams annually for damage caused by natural and or man-made events and conduct repairs and maintenance as needed to keep them in shape for service during flood events. The districts will again have to inspect the existing structures soon for damage caused by this flood with repairs, if needed, conducted throughout the coming months,” Young said.
Tetanus Shots For Flood/Tornado Workers
Brian Allen said he is working on getting tetanus vaccines from the State of Kansas for any workers who have worked in the flood waters that have inundated the county.
SEK Multi-County Health Department is offering free tetanus shots for individuals affected by the recent flooding. Tetanus shots will be available to impacted residents as well as first responders, volunteers, or any others who have been or will be assisting with recovery and cleanup efforts.
Free tetanus shots will be available by appointment at the SEK Multi-County Health Department in Iola, Garnett, and Fort Scott while flood response continues.
Bourbon County (Fort Scott): 524 S. Lowman, Fort Scott, KS 66701
Tetanus vaccines are recommended for people of all ages. Adults need a tetanus booster shot every 10 years, but health care providers may recommend a booster sooner due to an injury or other health concerns.
Tetanus bacteria are everywhere in the environment, including soil, dust, and manure. Tetanus is most commonly caused by the bacteria getting into the body through broken skin, usually through injuries from dirty objects. During evacuation and flood cleanup, residents affected by flooding, emergency responders, cleanup workers, or volunteers may be at increased risk for these injuries. For this reason, these people should be sure that they are up to date with tetanus vaccination. This can be done by talking with your health care provider or reviewing your vaccination record.
Tetanus is commonly known as “lockjaw,” and is a serious disease that affects the nervous system and causes painful muscle contractions, particularly of your jaw and neck muscles. Tetanus can cause severe breathing problems and in serious cases, lead to death. There is no cure for tetanus.
This is the east entrance to the lake, below the spillway. The road has broken out and there’s a lot of traffic, submitted by Jason Tourtillott.
Bourbon County experienced flooding rain on Saturday evening, 10 Inches, said Brad Matkin.
This is the view towards Wall Street from Hwy.. 69 bypass, in front of Fort Scott Munitions.
In a Facebook post on the city’s page, he said the north end of town is flooded. He contacted fortscott.biz and asked to make this known.
“It’s a bad situation,” he said. “Water rescues are going on,” he said.
Please don’t be out unless absolutely necessary, Matkin said.
Third Street, at the Hwy. 69 bypass, by the railway, is flooded.
The safety of the residents and the public safety personnel is of utmost importance. Sightseeing is not encouraged.
The Marmaton River, which is located on North National Avenue, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, is expected to crest at 45 feet, possible tomorrow.
“That’s one of the highest in history,” he said.
Looking south on NATIONAL Avenue towards the bridge over the Marmaton River.
In addition, the forecast is for more rain this week.
Check out the calendar below for all events happening this month!
Encore from
Jill Williams: Watercolorist!
Thursday, May 9th, 2024 Two exciting Classes!
Watercolor Landscape
Watercolor Landscape Clinic
For experienced beginners and intermediate watercolorists, Jill will lead you step by step into the anatomy of a landscape, establishing a strong composition, and using value & visual textures to create depth, space, and emotive impact. You’ll also learn to capitalize on the characteristics of your pigments and to serve your painting by maintaining loose, fresh brushwork. Join Jill for this half day workshop to develop new techniques and skills while creating 2 beautiful landscapes. Supplies are included!
Whether you’re new to watercolor. or painting in general, you’ll love this fun and engaging exploration that will jumpstart your affinity for watercolor! Join Jill for this half day workshop to quickly hone your painting skills with step by step instruction to create a beautiful series of tiny paintings, perfect for gift giving, or adding a personalized touch to your own decor.
Simply arrive with your expectation and enjoy the wonderful nature themed creations you’ll produce with Jill’s expert guidance. All skill levels welcome and supplies are included!
The Crane home was a pocket garden winner of the Bourbon County Garden Club in 2023. Submitted photo.
Plant Sale and Pocket Garden Contest
The Bourbon County Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale on the opening day of the Downtown Farmers’ Market, Saturday, May 4, from 8 a.m. until noon. Proceeds from the sale support beautification efforts throughout the community. The garden club partners with Tri Valley Developmental Services to sell a wide variety of plants, all of which are geared to our area’s weather challenges. Club members offer plants freshly dug from their own gardens, plus unique plant-filled pots. Tri Valley provides annuals, herbs, and both blooming and foliage hanging baskets. Among the variety of annuals this year are geraniums, calibrachoa, and begonias which are in bloom and ideal for Mothers’ Day gifts. Knowledgeable members and Master Gardeners will be available to offer advice and answer questions about plants during the sale.
A new feature this year is a children’s free activity area. There will be garden-related coloring sheets and crayons, plus rocks that children can decorate with acrylic paint markers. They may take the rocks with them or leave them around town for other children to find. The garden club will also be selling decorative rocks that Fort Scott Middle School students have painted.
In addition, Bourbon County residents will have the opportunity at the plant sale to register for a free pocket garden. A club committee will collaborate with the winner to create a small garden with drought tolerant plants. Look for Garden Club Pocket Garden signs throughout Fort Scott to see what can flourish in small areas with challenging conditions. County residents can also enter to win on the Bourbon County Garden Club Facebook page now and until Tuesday, May 7.
Corner gardens designed by plant enthusiasts have existed in Fort Scott for years, Instead of trying to grow grass in adverse conditions where sidewalks intersect, gardeners have improved these areas by adding colorful, drought-tolerant plants. Bourbon County Garden Club members voted last year to extend the club’s beautification efforts beyond downtown, the city pool islands, and Riverfront Park to provide two pocket gardens in the county. Club members Sheryl Bloomfield, Maggie Davenport, Martha Jane Gentry, Janet Irvin, and Leah Lewis worked with the winning homeowners to develop the gardens. Two different gardening situations were addressed. A new garden by the front door was created at the Martin residence on Main Street. Perennials were planted last fall after the site was prepared. Cool season annuals were added this spring. At the Crane residence on Crawford, the committee added to an existing garden space at the corner by adding colorful annuals and perennials last summer. Spring-blooming bulbs were planted last fall, and annuals were added recently. With time, perennials will fill in at both pocket gardens, and some will reseed.
Support community beautification by shopping at the Bourbon County Garden Club Plant Sale at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday, May 4. Register to win a pocket garden at the plant sale or on
