Numbers presented to the Adams County Board of Supervisors Monday tell the story of a wonderful turnaround for our community.

Natchez Regional Medical Center appears to be on the road to making a profit.

It’s great news for the hospital that was in bankruptcy and up for sale just a few years ago.

The staff should be proud, but unfortunately the board of supervisors and hospital board still have reason to be wary.

The hospital — and therefore the county — got into its latest bout of trouble years ago when the NRMC’s administrative staff and former management company presented a glowing financial report to its board, the county and the community.

The hospital was in the black and making a profit, the former administrators said.

A year later the truth wasn’t so pretty. Misrepresentation of the truth led the county to believe the hospital was making money when it was in fact losing it, quickly.

The management company running the hospital was fired, taking the CEO and other staff members with it. Changes came on the board and at the hospital, bankruptcy was declared, staff members were laid off and faith in the taxpayer-owned hospital was certainly shaken.

We hope the hospital board will make detailed financial reports public. That level of transparency would go a long way toward restoring the trust that was lost.

We trust that the new staff is more reliable, and are happy to celebrate success with them.

But we hope the county and hospital board leaders remember the past and remain proactive when it comes to hospital budget reports.