Letter to Editor 7-3

By superadmin | July 3, 2025

Dear Editor:

I must speak out about Pres. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”. The more I learn about it the more fears and concerns I have for Scotland County and our communities.

This bill, with its cuts to Medicaid, puts rural hospitals on the chopping block, including Scotland County Memorial Hospital. This hospital is not only our local healthcare facility, it is also the largest employer in the county. I am aware of a carve out bill in the house to create an exception for rural hospitals, but all this will do is leave all rural hospitals fighting over a small puddle of money. Right now Scotland County Memorial Hospital has just added a new orthopedic program that is allowing locals to have major joint replacement surgeries done locally rather than forcing the community to travel to Kirksville, Columbia, Quincy or into Iowa. We have an MRI machine that comes on Tuesdays to do advanced imaging procedures. I have fears these services will no longer be available to us and our hospital will be hollowed out instead of growing its services. With cuts to Medicaid how can our nursing home reopen? Moving elderly loved ones farther away from family is hard on everyone.

Let’s talk about cuts to our public library. With an executive order on March 14th, DOGE began making cuts to the Institute of Museums and Libraries. This is the branch of the Federal government that administers federal monies to public libraries, including our public library. These potential funding cuts are estimated to cut half of the federal dollars the library receives. Our dynamic local library served over 8000 people last year. Many people in this community from home-schoolers to job-seekers depend on this valuable community resource to find information and learn new skills. The library is a cooling center in summer and a warming center in winter. Some of the services and offerings available at the library are:
GED classes and testing
Reference services
Internet access, computer and smartphone help
Summer reading programs
Interlibrary loan services
Genealogy research
Telehelath and counseling
Copy, fax and printing services
There are many more but this is just a sampling of ways that our library enhances this community.

How about Scotland County Food Pantry. I have volunteered at the Food Pantry for nearly seven years. Scotland County Food Pantry serves approximately 200 – 225 families per month. I have personally seen the total number of pallets of food stuffs and commodities decrease from approximately 22 pallets on a good month to now fewer than 15. The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA), a federal program, has been cut $420 million. LFPA allows Food Banks to purchase dairy and produce from local farmers. There is another federal program for Food Banks called the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. At the Food Pantry we call them Senior Boxes. The Trump Administration 2026 Budget would eliminate this program.

There are many more topics that I can go on about, our public school, HUD funding for seniors and those with disabilities, cuts to SNAP benefits, Senior Nutrition Center and more. What disappoints me the most is that our local newspaper and the editor has not said one word about any of this. I am not asking you to “get political” just report the facts of what cuts to the programs that the local residents depend on will mean to all of us.

Sincerely,
Cat Beach

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