We Want Back Our Hospital!

Their hospital closed in the late 60s and in most towns it would have stayed closed. People would have moved on, chalking it up to a typical occurrence in rural towns. In my travels I’ve yet to see where someone has reopened something as complex as a hospital. That was, until last week.

Lovington and nearby Tatum resolved to reopen their hospital, creating a new hospital district. Today the Nor-Lea General Hospital is a thriving entity in Lovington, NM, employing 180. It recently completed a $7 million expansion, draws patients from a 90 mile radius and does 95% of its revenue as an outpatient facility.

Its CEO, David Shaw, who moved to Lovington 5 years ago, was selected as Lovington’s Citizen of the Year at the event I spoke at. He is dynamically expanding the vision of the hospital and also of the community.

The people of Lovington and Tatum showed a real “Can Do” spirit in not giving up on their closed hospital. It is often the real key to success of successful towns compared to others.