Congratulations to Angelia Foster, who was recently named as the new president of Baptist Health Corbin.
She is coming to Corbin from Marshfield Medical Center-Beaver Dam, which is located in Dodge County, Wisconsin.
The medical center is a not-for-profit facility including a 48-bed acute care hospital, 100-bed skilled nursing facility, ambulatory care, regional clinics, long-term care, assisted living, home care and hospice, sleep center, wound care, retail pharmacy and independent senior living. She also serves as regional president for the southern region of Wisconsin.
I imagine that Baptist Health Corbin will present a slightly different challenge for her. She will start her new position effective Oct. 14.
The last time Baptist Health Corbin brought in an outsider as president was the hiring of Larry Gray in November 2011, which turned out pretty darn good by pretty much all accounts. Larry left Corbin in June 2018 to become president of Baptist Health Louisville, which is Baptist Health’s flagship hospital in Kentucky.
I think I speak for everyone in the community when I say that I wish Foster well.
Baptist Health Corbin is an important part of our community. This is especially true for Whitley County since Jellico Community Hospital remains closed.
I don’t know that most people realize this, but most of Jellico’s patients have traditionally come from Whitley County, particularly southern Whitley County. Jellico Community Hospital’s closure leaves a real health care void for not only Whitley County, but northern Campbell County, Tennessee.
I think it is fair to say that Jellico Community Hospital has struggled since Adventist Health severed ties with it in 2015.
Hopefully, it will reopen soon with good ownership and good leadership.
Fortunately, Baptist Health Corbin already seems to have both.
Now to switch gears and talk about politics briefly.
I’ve had a few people ask me about my take regarding the presidential race.
My current assessment is this. Kamala Harris will get a slight bump in the polls after she names her running mate, and she will also get a slight bump in polls after the Democratic National Convention where she will formally accept the Democratic nomination. This is normal for both parties after their conventions.
This will put Harris and Republican nominee/former President Donald Trump essentially dead even in the national polls by mid-August, which I doubt will vary much minus a major debate debacle or scandal. However, the later almost always seem to improve Trump’s numbers, so take that for what it is worth.
The outcome of the race will boil down to 10,000 – 15,000 swing voters – maybe less – in each of about eight swing states. Kentucky is not one of those.
Hopefully, Harris or Trump emerges with a large margin of victory. If not, we hold our collective breath and see whether there will be a peaceful transfer of power. I wish that I could say I have a lot of confidence in that happening, but this election I can’t say that I do.
One other note on an unrelated matter before I conclude this column. The American Red Cross sent out a notice Monday morning about an emergency blood shortage with its blood supply dropping by 25 percent. It is requesting more donors.
The closest place to give blood locally is the Kentucky Blood Center’s Tri-County Donor Center, which is located at 1454 W. Cumberland Gap Parkway in Corbin.
