By John Brice
Correspondent
Local officials and business leaders gathered for a ribbon cutting at East Alabama Medical Center – Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital on 48th St in Valley during the late morning hours of Thursday, December 19th of 2024.
In a post to the official Facebook page for the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce it was stated “Almost 75 years of serving our community, EAMC-Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital is proud to provide you with these valuable services: Emergency Care, Ambulatory Surgery Center, Radiology, Physical Therapy, Cardiac Rehab, Infusion Services, Lab Work, Nursing Home”.
In a follow up post reflecting on the event later on in the day after it was held, the GVACC remarked “This morning we helped celebrate the launch of EAMC – Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital. We are grateful for the services we have here in our community and look forward to working with them for many years to come.”
Further clarification on the event had been provided in a post to the official Facebook page for EAMC-Lanier Hospital which explained “For nearly 75 years, EAMC-Lanier has been dedicated to providing high-quality, compassionate health care to generations of families. As we approach this milestone, we remain committed to serving you and your family with the same dedication and excellence that have defined us for decades.”
It went on to continue “In December, our official name will change to EAMC-Lanier Rural Emergency Hospital. While the name is different, we are proud to continue providing valuable services to you as our healthcare facility evolves with the needs of the community. Together, we look forward to many more years of health and healing!”
Despite the carefully crafted messaging promoting the rebranding, many members of the community reacted with a healthy dose of skepticism and disappointment.
One user responded to the news by commenting “All the years and years of donations and work – gone! We used to give a day’s pay to keep this thing going. EAMC is obsessed with owning all the medical business in the area. Everyone should have known the intent was to close it and not compete. The ER in Opelika is becoming worse than Lanier. It’s dirty and a lot of the employees are just getting a check. It took a come to Jesus on several occasions to get help when our parents had to go there”.
Another user expressed concern over financial confusion by remarking “As I understand it, everyone in Chambers County is paying a SPLOST (special local option sales tax) on every sale in the county to support Lanier and now EAMC does this. I think we should be given an opportunity to vote and cancel that SPLOST since EAMC clearly doesn’t care much for our residents. All they’re going to be doing is stabilize you and ship you to Opelika or Birmingham.”
Chambers County residents continuing to be taxed to subsidize the hospital despite it being downgraded after they had voted to renew the ad valorem tax on election day 2022 with the expectation that outpatient services would continue only to have them denied was a particularly sore subject for many local residents.
One user expressed their dismay by commenting “But they are still taking a portion of Chambers County property taxes !” with another noting “It’s time to get our elected officials to rescind this tax .”
