Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 11:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

No more Taxes! The hospital should live within their means and budget! Maybe there needs to be some new Board Members also! I have to live within my budget! So should the Board!

Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 11:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Well, there it is. Who could have predicted higher taxes would be the solution to the problem?

Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 11:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Why is it always that the property owners are asked to pay the taxes! Everyone should pay? Community looks better more and more!

Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on February 28, 2008 at 11:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It is time to quit the smoke and mirror tactics and tell us the truth!

That is, if the board knows the truth!

If it is a cash flow problem why talk about everything but a cash flow problem.

Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 11:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Looks like the Board may not know what a cash flow is, gemccull?

Posted by buttercup26 (anonymous) on February 28, 2008 at 11:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

more tax!! and they will get it too, just like every one else who yells tax time!!

Posted by fatherof4 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 1:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

You know their saying, "Just $5.00 to average home owner." Of course $5.00 every time you turn around adds up fast, when they do this 2 or 3 times a year.

Posted by shedevil (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

has the board lost their cotton picking minds !!!! the tax increase would only be short term.why should the taxpayer have to foot the bill.the ones that put the hospital in the shape that is in now is the ones that dont pay their bills or taxes.i say sell the hospital to a private company or to the state for a charity hospital.no more taxes.....

Posted by gerandall58 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 5:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well it seems a little silly to me, they just the other day charged me close to 10 grand to get a piece of metal out of my stomach which they never got out. For about 3hrs of unsuccsessful probing I would say that was pretty good. They ought to be able to take care of theirself without taking more money out of the tax payers pockets.

Posted by niderbip (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 5:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)

how 'bout adding a penny to the sales tax? everyone here will call it "just a 1% increase" and that way it'll surely pass.

we can do it again in 2009.

Posted by literate (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 5:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Those of us who pay our taxes, use no government assistance and actually have health insurance to pay for the health care we receive should not have to continually pick up the slack for those who don't. The hospital is suffering financially because almost half of their care goes uncompensated. 46% of the folks getting treated at NRMC are NOT paying for it and the hospital doesn't get reimbursed for uncompensated care. Why should I have to pay more taxes so these people can continue to get health care?

Posted by shedevil (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 5:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)

niderbip...raising sales tax wont be fair either.the ones that are not paying for their health care dont pay sales tax on their food stamp purchases either.

Posted by niderbip (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 6:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

shedevil -

i was being facetious.

Posted by EnKiKur (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 6:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The first story about trouble at the hospital came out last Friday. Governmental efficiency appears to be on the increase over there, it took only one week to go from crisis to tax increase.

All the universal health care proponents should take note, this is how it is going to work. It feels different on a local level than on a national level, doesn't it?

Add the interest on the million dolllar loan to the interest on the bond payment and subtract that from the money available for actual health care, and you can see why hospital aspirins cost so much and banks have the nicest buildings in town, apart from government and churches.

Would anyone be interested in sending the sheriff out to collect unpaid hospital bills from the people who owe them, and give him the power to seize their property if they don't pay? That would be somehow wrong wouldn't it?

But, increase property taxes and if property owners don't pay, the sheriff will go seize that property. This is how socialism works.

Tar and feathers are cheaper and more satisfying than a lifelong obligation to pay the debts of others.

Posted by speakup (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

ok. i have a question. i don't smoke, but did but this has nothing to do with my question. i wonder how much the hospital paid to help or make their employees stop smoking. i understand they gave them patches, classes, training ect to quit. i also saw adds in paper there would be no smoking. and i wonder if there paid employees while they were in quit smoking classes. did they pay over time for staff to cover the floors while classes were going on? how many other things like this did they waste money on?

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here we go. We knew it was coming. Tax hike. All the fuss over the last week has been a preparation for this tax hike. The same team that has run the Hospital to the ground comes up with one more brilliant idea. If the president of the Board of supervisors did not know about the proposed tax hike, obviously, Mr Brown has not done his homework. I would think the first step would be talk to the Board of supervisors before they make announcements and assumptions. It is precisely this kind of management, putting the cart before the horse that has landed us in this mess. Get real and get your act togeather.

Posted by NoWireHangers (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Before there is a tax hike there should be more accountability for the money already invested in NRMC.
Since it is a county hospital, everyone should have the opportunity to be able to see online and in print where the money is going. Any contracts that the hospital has for services and incoming reimbursement payments from Medicare/Medicaid/Third Party Insurance and Private Pay should be available for the public to view. There should be more transparency of the finances. Natchez Regional is a wonderful hospital and gives great care to the community but the financials should be available to the people supporting it.

Posted by natchez08 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There were no classes for the stop smoking program at NRMC. Employees spoke to counselors on their own time from their homes.

Posted by muleman (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Let's not do anything about the mismanagement, patronage and inefficiency of our county owned hospital. Let's just raise taxes and let the hospital throw away some more money. Only this time it's going to be the money of the hard working, law abiding, TAX PAYING! citizens of Adams County. DON'T LET IT HAPPEN ADAMS COUNTY TAXPAYERS! Once they start this it will be ever increasing and never ending, no matter what they say. I knew it was coming. First they blame everything and everybody. They never admit to their own inadequacy. Then they want somebody else to bail them out. What a mess! Do you want a bunch of polictians to buy votes with your tax money by handing out a bunch of do-nothing jobs at NRMC? If you do let them raise your taxes. NRMC will be a bottomless pit for your tax dollars.

Posted by NoWireHangers (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I think it would be a good idea to post names, addresses and amount of money owed on accounts to NRMC. Accounts that are six months past due owe the county hospital so I think the county should know who they are and how much they owe.

Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

NO MORE TAXES. I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE, AND HERE IT GOES AGAIN. The last tax was just last week, the hotel tax. When are people in government going to learn that they are taxing people to death. Tell the hospital to live within it means or to cut back on services. Just like any other business.

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

That facility is a county owned facility, in which for over 40 years has never ONCE received a dime from tax payers and for many years back funded this county with millions of dollars. The county should help out.

Posted by sayitloud (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

There may not any way to solve their problems, but needs a good review to see what action to take, with such a high payroll of 600,000 every 2 weeks that would bankrupt many hospitals.

Posted by luzichick (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I know it's not ideal, but I wonder what it would take to turn them into a charity hospital. It sounds like that's what's needed and I would think they would be able to get more public funding in the form of grants and such that way.

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 8:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Who do you think pays for Charity??? The tax payers!!!!
Where do you think the funding for the federal grants come from?? Your federal taxes that come out of your checks weekly!!! That the problem, everyone wants something for free!!

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

High payroll is a majority of physician salaries! The physicians should do like everyone else, take out a loan, establish your practice, work hard and pay off your loan.
But physicians dont want to come to the rural areas because of all the lawsuits so facilities have to recruit phyicians. So establishing their practices and supplementing their salaries draws them in for a few months and then they don't want to work or a better offer comes along,they leave and we are left holding the bills.

Posted by stateofnatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)

what a croc...this place has always been a black hole for tax dollars...so whats new?

Posted by grrbrts (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I have not heard of doctors or employees not getting paid. With a tax increase, how are we as citizens, to know, what this money is spent on?

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The hospitals should get out of the business of employing physicians. That appears to be the chuck of the payroll. If a physician really wants to stay and work in our community, let them establish their own practice and the hospital can support him initially but not provide employment.

Posted by lambchop (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Wake up world. Democrats (and these being discussed are all probably Democrats) know only one thing in life and that is to increase taxes. DUH! Who pays -- we do. I am on disability and that means my income was greatly slashed from when I was a working person. How can I afford to pay and increase? Who cares but ME!

Posted by mr_snatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree with justoneopinion, NRMC has never received any tax money from the county. It is time for the people of Adams county to step up. I have worked at both hospitals and I promise you dont want Natchez Community Hospital to be the only place for health care. It is currently the second or third most expensive hospital in the state. I cant imagine what would happen if it was the only hospital in town. Natchez Regional has its problems also, mostly with poor management over the past years. They did make a good move by getting rid of the company that managed them this week. I dont know the solution but a property tax is not it.

Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I am wide awake. That is why I keep saying NO MORE TAX INCREASES!!! But it falls on very deaf ears in the Miss-Lou. Oh well, let the chips fall where they may...Wonder why more people are leaving Natchez than moving into Natchez?

Posted by county (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Supervisors will have to answer for higher taxes come election time.

Posted by beammeupscotty (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The hospital already gets tax money this would be an increase in the amount they get. I hear no comment on cutting costs. The retirement plan is way more generous than what I have. They have a lot of non paying customers that come from outside Adams county so the tax doesn't address that. The tax would only generate an additional 1 million, I think they said their monthly payroll was 600,000, so this floats them for only 1 month. They need to do a lot of work before they come to the tax payer to straighten this mess out. What about liability on the management firm that got us into this mess. SUE THEM!

Posted by mr_snatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What tax money does NRMC get beammeupscotty? This would be news to me.

Posted by natchez500 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

oh no you don't you will not get the tax dollars to get you out of your own problems why not use something like people from other counties and parishes not being able to get free care this is our hospital our people need it

Posted by nowHEARthis (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Who is going to have to answer to the voters if the largest employer in the county has to close?

Posted by natchez1 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Surely if the hospital has not made a (real) profit in years and most years made a loss where does the shortfall come from? Several people have stated that NRH gets no money from the county yet the county can raise the millage no more than 5 mils a year for the hospital. I assumed that some tax payers money was being used to support the hospital (I am sure that the expansion and some new equipment was paid for from the counties coffers). I know the hope is that it will self supporting but I am not sure that is the case.

I do think that some compensation could be extracted from Regionals clients who have no insurance. When they have a death in the family they always seem to be able to find the $6,000 to pay for a funeral (and normally within a week or two.) The law says you can't refuse treatment based on the ability to pay. It does not say that the hospital can't try to collect any payment.

I know when I go to the doctor/hospital that it will cost me. I have insurance but my deductible is so high I always have to pay out of pocket. Yes the hospital is expensive and that is not helped by the few paying customers picking up the tab for the "won't" payers.

Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The last time the largest employer in the county close, the only answer was that it was economics. Sounds like it could happen again.

Posted by ntzslums (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here's an idea. NR should hire a group of physicians and not require them to round on their own patients. Instead, NR should pay another MD to see those patients. Say, a doctor that sends most of his business to the other hospital--or out of state.....Ooops, someone may have already thought of that one. Here's another grand idea then. The county should pay ambulance services with county $'s to take the majority of insured patients to the "for profit" hospital. Ooops again, think that idea is taken. Well, so much for great ideas.

Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on February 29, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Isn't a deniable position wonderful?

Give me a break!

Posted by beammeupscotty (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 12:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

As I understand it this is a county owned hospital. This is the reason the supervisors are invloved. Where in the budget does it fall under? It must get some funding or the county would have no reason to be involved. It would just be another business.

Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 1:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I still say turn it into a V.A. Hospital....

Posted by oilman51 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 1:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You all need to realize that Walter Brown brought up this tax increase to take the burden off the hospital board and put it on the supervisors. The hospital board has not even voted to present this tax increase to the supervisors. If the hospital board does present this tax increase to the supervisors I know that my supervisor has advised me that he WILL NOT vote for it. Giving the hospital more money is not going to solve their problems. I do believe that getting rid of Wesselman is going to help a great deal but the hospital is still left with a big problem that is not going away overnight.
Isn't this just like the Democrat to set up the supervisors with this article, with Walter Brown's help, and when the supervisors do not give the hospital their tax increase to blame the supervisors for not helping out the hospital.

Posted by ntzslums (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The board of trustees and supervisors have proven, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are not capable of maintaining this hospital. Everyone has known, for a long time, that Quorum was sinking the ship. And now we see action being taken by the boards, AFTER Quorum has all but bankrupted them. Lease or sell the hospital to Baptist or some other healthcare corporation that can stand toe-to-toe with HMA and get Natchez out of the "Medical Dark Ages".

Posted by oilman51 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ntzslums-I believe the hospital board should have seen this coming, but the supervisors are not involved in the day to day duties of the hospital, they are not in the hospital business and don't want to be. I believe the majority of the supervisors would like to sell it but others would like to keep it so they can keep sending their friends and relatives there free of charge and you know which ones I'm talking about. The people that actually pay their taxes and bills I believe would like to sell but the ones that do not pay taxes or their bills I'm sure would like to keep the hospital the way it is.

Posted by RiverRat00 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Dear justone and getreal,
The reason that the hospitals have to employ physicians (and both of them do) is because our fair city is not very attractive to physicians compared to other cities. The level of insured patients and the quality of their insurance is pathetic. If hospitals did not employ doctors, there would be very few here and almost none of them would be specialists. To expect a new physician to take out a loan for $500,000 to start a practice in an area not known for supporting physicians well and expecting them to have no income for 6 months (the average time it takes to get approved and to start being paid by medicaid, medicare, and private insurance companies) is unrealistic. The advantage the hospitals have is that they supposedly have ecomomy of scale and can absorb this initial period of negative cash flow and that they benefit immediately by being able to charge for the physician's services and the charges the hospitals get on the patients admitted by these physicians and the procedures they do at the hospital. If the hospital knows how to bill properly, they should make big bucks on these contracts - evidently NCH knows how to do this and NRMC doesn't. Since this is the wave of the future, NRMC better get this expertise quickly or we will all be in worse shape medically.
By the way, a tax increase would be only a drop in the bucket and will not help unless NRMC gets its act together and learns how to manage the hospital and the physician practices - if they do, the tax increase is unnecessary - use that money to improve our schools (another big problem here - don't even get me started on that one....).

Posted by mike8427 (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree with Ntzslums, let Baptist or other rent this hospital, it has been in the red for too long with the hospital management and supervisors.

Posted by natchezgrandma (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 2:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

may I ask why I should pay higher tax for a hospital I am not able to use, because they will not honer may insurance. I have to use Community or Riverpark. Why can't they honer UnitedHealthcare if these hospitals can. That may be why they are losing money. They will honer it they tell me now if I will pay 50% out of my pocket. You bet I will just to use their hospital. They have or had a sign up saying they did not take it but when I called and asked why I was told this.

Posted by natchezgrandma (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I hope the supervisors that are supose to govern this will answer my question. Why hould I pay for a hospital I can't use?

Posted by Let_us_think (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 3:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

An idea--close the emergency room. This is the highway into the hospital for those not insured. Without the ER the admissions would come from the doctors' offices, the vast majority insured or of some ability to pay something. Uninsured coming to an ER are entitled to treatment under U.S. law.

This sounds hard, but life without NRH is not good for us. Adams County did not create the problem of the uninsured, but we do have to have adequate health care here. There's another emergency room in town. When NRH is in better shape the ER could be reopened.

A lot of money comes into our economy from NRH, money from Washington DC (Medicare), Blue Cross, and other insurances--money that stays in the county. Contrast this with a business like the casino--the money collected from this area leaves immediately for Las Vegas. The same holds for Walmart, by the way--the cash collected is deposited every evening in a bank in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Posted by justoneopinion (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 3:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Dear Riverrat,
How do you explain buying a physician practice that has be established for over 30 years? I can undertand helping a new physician get on their feet, but to continue to have to supplement their salaries for more than 6 months to a year means that someone is not doing their job!

Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on February 29, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Natchezgrandma is right on the mark about United Health Care and Natchez Regional.

Natchez Regional and United do not have an agreement so it is more out of pocket cost to go to Regional. I am not talking about pocket change, either.

Posted by Boolos (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 4:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Why is the hospital in the red? Bad management. This is never one man by the way. Who does the administrator report to? The solution to the problem is never to raise taxes.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
Citizens of Natchez, Wake up you must consolidate your city/county government and quit duplicating services. You only have a population of 18,000. Elect some worthy officials that have the citizens best interest at heart and you could be what the city of New Orleans was. Without the Crime! Your lost industries were attracted to the city by Charismatic leaders who put the cities interests above their own personal gain. Do you see those type leaders in your current roster of officials?

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Dear RiverRat00, you are right, for a new physician to establish his own practice and getgoing on his feet it does take 6 to 8 months. It does cost a lot of money, to the tune of $200K. There is nothing wrong in hospital supporting these physician financially for these initial months with some guaranties that the physician would stay in the community for X number of years. We have done that in the past. I can name a few. Dr Blane Mire was income guaranteed for one year by both Natchez Regional and Nathez community together when he moved to our town. Infact, he was the last doctor our town recuited, where both hospitals worked togeather to bring in physicians. NRMC instead of providing initial financial support to the physicians got into the business of employing physicians and started giving them bulky paychecks. That's where they went wrong. There is no incentive for these employed physicians to work hard and be productive, as they do not have to pay the bills. It is very realistic to recruit young physicians to our town with some income guaranties. It is unrealistic to employ a physician and hope he is going to be productive. Its even worse, when the hospital employs doctors that have changed several jobs and moved over several states.

Posted by woodduck (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 4:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Buying practices has been around in lots of areas for many years. Hospitals buy practices in the hopes that the physicians will funnel those patients to the hospital. Unfortunately, in and area like Natchez, it for the most part doesn't work. Patients are going to go to the hospital they are more comfortable with, have had better experiences with, etc. So you may try to steer patients but they have the right (As they should) to go where they want for care. NRMC is spending a ton of money on the 5 family practice physicians who occupy the entire 2nd floor of the new Drs Pavilion. I have no idea what the rent or salaries are, but it is certainly not a profitable situation. First, the average family practice physician doesn’t admit many patients to hospitals. Admission criteria are so rigid now, the days of sending “Aunt Sally in for a little rest, recuperation, and a few tests", are long gone. Second, whenever you put someone on a salary rather than a fee for service contract, productivity goes way down. That’s one of the biggest dilemmas that National Health care in Canada, UK and others face. Why work hard if you make the same thing for sitting on your duff and doing nothing? So in summary here, you have 5 Drs doing the work of 2, occupying a very expensive rented office suite and producing pennies on the dollar in returns to NRMC. What a great business plan!

As to the tax situation. I believe that NRMC has never received any tax revenue from Adams County. They(the county) may have guaranteed bonds and loans in the past, but no direct tax revenue has been spent on NRMC. Looks like that is about to change if the Board of Trustees has it’s way. The biggest problem I have with a tax, especially a property or car tag tax is that it will only punish Adams County citizens who are property or automobile owners. With this sort of tax, the 3-4 parishes in LA and the 3 surrounding counties in MS get a free ride. Why should I pay taxes on something that will be equally utilized by folks who pay nothing? Even a sales tax would be more equitable, as folks from other parishes and counties do shop in Adams County. They would be taxed on what they purchase here. The second bid problem with taxes, is it only helps to put a bandaid on a gushing wound. Give the board of trustees a guaranteed income and they will figure out another crazy idea to spend it on and this time next year they will be back with the same problem, only bigger.

Posted by rushinghjr (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 6:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

As an added posting to this subject, I would like to advise the new leadership of the County Board of Supervisors to take a step backwards and carefully advise the hospital board to get their act together and get the board chairperson to speak and not the attorney!

Posted by getrealnatchez (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 7:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)

By the way, I don't think all this input and comments have any effect on the Board. I don't think the Board Chairman nor the members check these blogs to see how popular they are and what the community thinks of their performance. If any of you are close to the Board members, please let them know of what the hospital staff and the public think of the Board.

Posted by niderbip (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 9:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

someone needs to discuss the mind-boggling birth rate of kids to unwed mothers. until it's dealt with, none of this matters.

Posted by topper (anonymous) on February 29, 2008 at 11:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A tax hike is not the answer. Contact your supervisor and speak up now. One person suggested closing the ER. That is done in several hospitals nation wide with financial difficulties. That is a thought. How about we have and auditor come in and check the books and make sure all is on the up and up. Lets have someone to check and make sure the billing is being done and in a timely manor. Both hospitals see there fair share of no pays. If my taxes increase i for one will be looking to relocated out of Adams county. I would like to see some more investigative reporting fron this paper. So far you are doing a great job keeping us informed.

Posted by priya (anonymous) on March 1, 2008 at 10:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What are they going to tax the most? When most people cant afford health insurance for themselves or their families. the working class might be better off going on welfare and social services. You want the people's houses looking good on the outside so the taxes go up for their property, But than doesn't Natchez decide what color you paint the outside of your house or what it should look like in the city limits. I think I would like my house white with black spots.

Posted by priya (anonymous) on March 1, 2008 at 8:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

hi Csguidry
Im in the medical field and I cant afford to get a job in natchez because it dont pay what im worth. why should I go from 20-28 dollars an hour to get paid 16 dollars an hour to work in Natchez or Vidalia. I say give the same hourly wages as they give the medical field in Baton Rouge or New Orleans. We do give the same care as the others but the rates are different. I think it goes for everything in Natchez or Vidalia most of it is minimum wage. Who can live on minimum wage now a days. Ive seen home depot start people off for 10 dollars an hour for a high school student. How much does the same kind of store in Natchez start people at? why should I make a few dollars more when I had to work and go to school to where I am. and than the lousy lawsuits for spilling hot coffee from Mcdonalds gets around should i work in the lumber store so I dont have to worry that people that are about to die or had a stroke need to live another 10 years because their family wants them too. The Medical field is not cheap, and threats of lawsuits make the prices go higher. the simple times if i recall adults lived to about 50 and got married at 16 to have children. Now the generation doubles that most people live way into their 80's and to keep them going the medical team has to keep up to date on their practices. I think Natchez and Vidalia is a beautiful place but than again it cant stay with the generations getting older. We need places so children and families want to live here instead of moving out. Making it for retirements is only going to make it like florida. Do we want Natchez and Vidalia to be recognized like Florida. Or is it going to be a mini las vegas. Im waiting to see what the future holds but if there is nothing for the younger generations we and our history will go down as dreams.