October 16, 2019
iR porter
Page 7A.
By Diane Glkiewell
news@mymcr.net
A crowd of more than
100 turned out Tuesday
morning to celebrate the
grand opening of the
newly-renovated Monroe
County Hospital emer-
gency room.
Hospital Authority of
Monroe County chair-
man Mac Brown cut a
commemorative ribbon
provided by the Forsyth-
Monroe County Chamber
of Commerce as MCH
CEO Lorraine Smith and a
host of other hospital staff-
ers and supporters looked
on.
"This crowd is almost as
big and beautiful as our
new ER" Smith said as she
welcomed everyone.
Smith said the comple-
tion of ER renovations was
the end of the first phase of
construction at the hospi-
tal, which started in Febru-
ary 2019. She pointed out
that the spot from which
she was speaking was pre-
viously a sand pit.
The emergency room
was expanded from four
rooms to seven renovated,
brighter rooms. The space
has large bathrooms,
an office for the Emer-
gency Room manager, a
medication room, a new
centralized nurse's station,
a behavioral treatment
room and a break room.
Smith said the space was
renovated with attention to
process improvement and
work flow.
She thanked the Hospi-
tal Authority of Monroe
County, hospital employ-
ees, Perry-based build-
ers Parrish Construction
Group and administrative
staffers Megan Randall
and Casey Fleckenstein for
checking every detail. She
said the hospital is sup-
ported by tax money but
is supported most of all
by the community which
chooses to use the facili .
Smith introduced Mon-
roe County Hospital's new
logo at the ribbon cutting.
It has the helping hands
of caring, a cross and the
yellow and blue colors of
Monroe County.
"We have an all fresh
look" said Smith. "We are
using Monroe County
colors to give the Monroe
County feel to the new
logo."
Brown said the special
day would not have been
possible without the sup-
port of Monroe County
citizens.
"We couldn't have done
it without the citizens of
the county getting behind
it and the county commis-
sioners getting behind it"
Brown said. "They're the
"ones that made it happen.
As far as the board goes, it's
just our job to oversee that
it gets done effectively and
cost-effectively."
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A Forsyth man is accused
of a hit-and-run on Satur-
day after an alert witness
allegedly followed him and
told police of his where-
abouts.
Sonjo Jarriel told Forsyth
police Cpl. Kim Barnett
that she was traveling Patrol
Road at its intersection
with North Lee Street when
an older model white van
heading north toward 1-75
ran the red light on Lee
Street and struck the front
of her Honda Accord before
continuing down the hill.
Jarriel called 911. The wreck
happened around 10:36
a.m. on Saturday.
Barnett saw marks on the
Accords front bumper, and
its front tag holder had been
torn off. A male witness told
Barnett that the incident oc-
curred the way the Accord
driver had described, but he
left the scene before Barnett
could get his name. Dis-
patchers then told Barnett
that a second witness, Tim
Goodman, had called 911,
saying he had followed the
van and knew where it was.
Barnett then met Good-
man, who also said the
incident occurred the way
Jarriel had described. Good-
man said he followed the
van to a concrete duplex-
style building on Pineview
Drive. The witness said the
van was initially parked in
the front yard, but when
he passed the building a
second time, the van had
moved to the rear of the
building.
Barnett then went to the
building, where she spotted
an older-model, white mini-
van exiting. Bamett blocked
the van in the buildings
driveway and told the van
driver, identified as Mike C.
Hickman Sr. of Forsyth, to
put the van in park. Hick-
man admitted to driving
the van earlier that day but
said he had never been on
Lee Street. Forsyth police
offficer Jeremy Malone
found damage to the van's
rear passenger side. Hick-
man denied being involved
in a wreck and said he didn't
know if the damage was
new or not. Hickrnan then
changed his story and said
he had been traveling on
Lee Street earlier that day.
Hickman then told Barnett
that someone named T.J.
Alford was riding with
him and would have been
a witness to his driving.
However, Hickman said
he didn't know where the
other man was, and neither
Barnett nor the driver were
able to reach the other
man by phone. The second
witness, Goodman, then
came to Pineview Drive and
confirmed the van was the
one involved in the wreck.
However, he said he was not
sure it was the same driver
because the van driver was
wearing a different shirt.
Barnett then arrested
Hickman and took him to
the Monroe County Jail.
While en route to the jail,
Hickman again denied
hitting anyone and said the
Accord actually hit the side
of his van. Hickman also
asked for the names of the
witnesses, but Barnett told
them the witnesses' names
would be in the report,
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MONROE COUNTY
REPUBUCAN PARTY
Join us for our
October meeting
Minori's Italian Restaurant
On the Square in Forsyth
October 17th at 6:30 p,m,
Come and hear one
of the most respected
Republican editorialists
of our time - Sloan Oliver.
Heavy hers d'oeuvres will be served.
