Officials Propose 4-Cent Reduction in County Tax Rate
Hopkins County Tax Assessor/Collect Debbie Pogue Mitchell Friday proposed setting the county tax rate at $0.584035 per $100 property valuation, a 4-cent tax reduction.
Mitchell explained that the Comptroller requires that two rates be considered in establishing a county tax rate and made public: a no-new-revenue tax rate, the amount needed to raise the same amount of property tax revenue from the same properties in both the 2020 tax year and the 2021 tax year, and the voter-approval tax rate, that is the highest tax rate the county may adopt without holding an election to seek voter approval of the proposed county tax rate.
Hopkins County’s no-new-revenue rate is $0.56139 per $100 property valuation. The county’s voter-approval tax rate is $0.585726 per $100, according to the 2021 notice of tax rates and notice of public hearing/notice of public meeting.
After months of budget work sessions between the commissioners court and various county departments, Mitchell recommended that the county tax rate be set at $0.584035 per $100 property valuation for 2021-2022, which is a $0.040857 reduction. That would be less than or equal to the 3.5 percent cap set by the state legislature. That would lower the tax bill on a $100,000 property from $624.892 to $584.035 during the 2021-2022 taxing cycle.
“When I came into office, we had to raise the tax rate almost 7 cents to build the jail, and so this is taking it backward actually for the first time since I’ve been county judge,” Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom said.
While the tax rate is 4 cents lower, county property taxes are projected to raise $888,540 more revenue for Hopkins County during 2021-2022 than the prior year’s $0.624892 county tax rate. Approximately $280,330 of that 6.9 percent increase in tax revenue is from new properties added to the tax roll this year.
“Of course, everybody knows, across the county that everybody’s values increased, and also the county’s debt rate decreased. Those played into the figuring of the tax rate,” Mitchell said.
“Will we see that in this year’s tax [bill], In October, we’ll see the reduction then?” Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Price asked.
“Yes, sir, even though you are working on the 2022 budget, we’re working on the 2021 taxes which come out in October,” Mitchell affirmed.
“So, actually, this new tax rate will take effective immediately — it will impact the taxpayers immediately?” Newsom asked.
Mitchell said confirmed that, when tax notices go out in October, the new adopted rate will be used to calculate county property tax bills.
Because the proposed tax rate is greater than the no-new-revenue tax rate but lower than the voter-approval tax rate one public hearing must be held regarding the tax rate, Mitchell noted.
The County Tax Assessor/Collector then asked the Commissioners Court to set the official public hearing, during which public comments may be voiced regarding the planned tax rate and budget. She proposed that a public hearing be held Aug. 23, 2021, during the 9 a.m. Commissioners Court meeting at Hopkins County Courthouse, for the proposed $0.584035 tax rate for 2021-2022. She also recommended the Commissioners Court consider adopting the proposed tax at the Aug. 23, following the public hearing. The court officially set 9 a.m. Aug. 23 as the date and time for the public hearing and to consider adopting the tax rate. The county’s proposed FY 2021-2022 budget (and 2021 tax notices) has been posted to the county’s website for public review and is expected to be announced for consideration on Aug. 23, 2021 as well.
“Because of some innovative programs, the county has some flexibility others do not enjoy. We are able to give employees a raise across the board,” Newsom said.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Mickey Barker said attributed the ability to fund a raise for all county employees to “positive growth in Hopkins County and special projects.” The increase in pay should help recruit and retain employees throughout the county, especially deputies, corrections officers and firefighters.
HCSO Chief Deputy Tanner Crump said some “cutting edge programs” are will providing a more competitive pay, that we have been behind on for decades.” That should help retain the quality employees already employed at the sheriff’s office and across the county, and help attract other high caliber applicants when openings do become available.
The Commissioners emphasized that the proposed 12 percent pay raise for all county employees will not come from the the additional tax revenue from new construction and increased appraisal values on property. No tax dollars will be used for pay increases; the special projects are expected to fund the raises. The additional tax revenues will be used for county operations, maintenance, debt service payments and repairs.
Click here to view the Proposed County Budget
Tax notices can be found by clicking here.
Sulphur Springs ISD Media Release for Seamless Summer Option Free Meals 2021-2022
Sulphur Springs ISD’s Child Nutrition Department announced its policy for this school year,
healthy meals will be offered every school day to all students at no cost. Typically, a student’s
application must meet income eligibility requirements to qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
However, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a guidance that allows
schools to offer free meals to all students under the Seamless Summer Option (SSO), at no cost,
for the 2021-2022 school year.
While no application or eligibility determination is required for your student to receive free meals under SSO this school year, income eligibility requirements will likely resume in the 2022-2023 school year.
Because of this likely outcome, Sulphur Springs ISD will process household applications during the school year 2021-2022, for Middle School and High School
students only, as in years past. The online application is now open at Meal App Now.
Pre-K
through 5th grade will continue to be free campuses under the CEP program in the school year 2022-2023.
Meal App Now
https://www.mealappnow.com/mansul/splash.php
Wildcats Football Set for First Scrimmage Today at Liberty Eylau
The Wildcats football team, lead by head coach and athletic director Greg Owens, are prepped for their first scrimmage of the fall 2021 season when they travel out to Texarkana to play Liberty Eylau tonight.
The match is set to kick-off tonight at 7 P.M.
The scrimmage will take place at LESD’s Harris Field, home to the Leopards, and should be a good one between these two teams.
After the Wildcats participate in their first scrimmage tonight at LE at 7:30 P.M., they’ll be back at home next Thursday, Aug. 19, when they take part in their final scrimmage (of two) versus Pleasant Grove.
That game, like the scrimmage tonight, is set to kick-off at 7 P.M.
The Wildcats’ season opener is on Aug. 27, two weeks from today, when they take on Frisco Wakeland at 7:30 P.M. at Gerald Prim Stadium.
Coach Owens will have his hands full over the next month; when speaking with offensive coordinator for the football team, Coach Matt Young said the Wildcats will be tested right out of the gate.
The Wildcats OC said he expects Pleasant Grove (second and final scrimmage opponent) to be a top-10 team in the state, followed by the home-opener against Wakeland, who will be sporting a top-10 defense, Coach Young said.
Sulphur Springs’ second regular season opponent Lovejoy is another top program in the state.
Follow that up with Kaufman on Sept. 10, who won the state 7-on-7 tournament this summer, and Coach Owens and his squad will be tested early and often starting tonight.
But for now, Coach Owens and his staff will focus on how they can take the right first step when they partake in their first scrimmage of the fall 2021 season tonight when they travel to Texarkana to play Liberty Eylau at 7 P.M.
The fall schedule can be found here.
KSST is proud to be the official Wildcat and Lady Cat Station. We broadcast Sulphur Springs ISD games year round live on radio. When allowed, we also broadcast games via our YouTube channel.
Kiwanis Speaker Addresses Human Trafficking, Recruitment in NE Texas
Julie Prettiman, wife of a Greenville pastor and adoptive parent of six, had been a stay-at-home mom until a member of her own family had a very close brush with human trafficking of a teen for the sex trade. That’s when Julie’s involvement with the non-profit Poiema Foundation headquarters in Rockwall, Texas proved to be life-saving. According to their mission statement, ‘the Poiema Foundation educates the public and raises awareness in order to prevent sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and other methods of sexual exploitation, also facilitating the restoration journey of survivors by providing for their physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs. Our goal is to provide a safe place where victims experience the unconditional love of Jesus Christ and receive trauma-informed care on their journey from victim to survivor’. Julie is now quite active with the organization, and at the invitation of local Kiwanian Jim Thompson, she and her associate Hillary Evans agreed to share information during the Sulphur Springs Kiwanis Club lunch meeting on Wednesday August 11, 2021 held at League Street Church of Christ.
Julie shared that because some of their family were adopted teens whose country of orgin was across the globe, she and her husband were naturally aware of the growing threat of human trafficking for youth in other cultures. “Yet, I had never really been exposed to the underbelly of the world. Not until it touched the life of my own twin sister and her family. My 17-year-old niece…. who was not rebellious, attended church every week, made good grades, did not have a boyfriend, and enjoyed a good home life…. went missing. She left a letter behind which implied she was leaving to ‘seek independence’. Yet, she also left her phone and car behind. Once Julie heard the facts from her sister, she immediately suspected trafficking. The good news is that the niece was missing for only two days before she was located in San Diego, California. The bad news is that she had been being ‘recruited’ for over a year and introduced to a handsome ‘romeo pimp’ whose connections eventually took her across state lines. Due to Julie’s quick assistance, the responsible parties were apprehended and actually found to be members of three different branches of the U.S. military. With assistance from the FBI, the niece was rescued and safely returned to her family. Along the journey, however, Julie learned firsthand about how the trade is conducted, and she now seeks to educate the public on the very real threat in this country.
According to Prettiman, interesting facts about trafficking include: the US. is the #1 buyer of trafficked victims, only 1% of victims are recovered or rescued for various reasons, and it is usually average, nice-looking young people who act as recruiters of other youth for the sex trade. All teens are vulnerable, and they are potential victims because they can be easy to manipulate by peers. Trauma can also play into their vulnerability. A person who has experienced trauma has had the central cortex of the brain affected. The central cortex affects reasoning. Some traffickers will inflict a trauma, like date-rape or gang-rape or other violence to cause the victim to be more manipulative, and to not reason what is happening to them. You can call it an invisible gun to their head, to gain control of them. For those of us who are teachers, coaches, medical personnel, even law enforcement, we need to also be careful of mis-indentification of victims. We may judge someone as acting like ‘a prostitute’ and not as a victim of sex trafficking. One coded message on a teen’s phone was discovered by her grandmother. The confusing message read, “Do you want work or green?” Uncoded, the message asked, ‘do you want sex or marijuana’? The grandmother was glad she got the authorities involved. We need to know the signs if someone is being recruited, or has been recruited. It is happening here in NE Texas”.
“I now try to educate people about the very real dangers of human trafficking. I advocate for Shared Hope International which works by way of state level legislation and the Human Trafficking Task Force out of Austin. Also with the Poiema Foundation, I’m an Outreach Co-ordinator for the Greenville area. Poiema has over 100 routes that we cover regularly with pamplets and posters, and we offer training for volunteers to help us by learning how to look out for trafficking wherever they live. Please look up their website at poiemafoundation.org and become informed about the signs of human trafficking.”
You can view the video of this Kiwanis meeting posted on the ksst youtube channel.
Man Accused Of Shooting A Woman With An Air Rifle
A 27-year-old Sulphur Springs man accused of shooting a woman with an air rifle was jailed Thursday evening on an assault charge, according to arrest and jail reports.
Sulphur Springs Police reported responding at 9:50 p.m. Aug. 12, 2021, on South Moore Street to a disturbance in which a woman was alleged to have been shot in the leg with BB gun. The address was one in where officers on another shift were told an assault had occurred the night before.
Upon arrival, one officer contacted and detained the 27-year-old male in handcuffs while another went inside to speak with the alleged victim, reported in arrest reports to be the man’s wife. The man claimed the disturbance occurred when the woman attempted to bar him from leaving with their child.
Additional officers were told when the female resident returned home from work, the man tried to take the child. The woman refused and tried to stop him from taking the child. The Sulphur Springs man allegedly grabbed an air riffle and shot the woman above the knee on one leg, then, shot her in the back of the other knee when she walked outside. The woman did have two injuries that were bleeding. EMS treated her for the injuries.
The Sulphur Springs man was booked into the county jail at 11:59 p.m. Aug. 12, 2021, on an assault causing bodily injury to a family member charge; he remained in custody on the second-degree felony charge at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. A 24-hour hold was placed on him during the book-in process and a protective order was requested to prevent him from contacting the victim upon release from jail.
KSSTRadio.com publishes Sulphur Springs Police Department reports and news. The Police Department is located at 125 Davis St., Sulphur Springs, Texas. Non-emergency calls can be made to (903) 885-7602.
If you have an emergency dial 9-1-1.
The Sulphur Springs Police Department continues to serve its citizens with pride in its overall mission and will strive to provide the best possible police force in the 21st century.
If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1
The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.
The Welding Shop at the Paris Junior College-Sulphur Springs Center
REVIEWING WORK
Advanced welding students Jack Smith, left, of Sulphur Springs, and Jordan Cummings of Quinlan observe as PJC-Sulphur Springs Center Welding Instructor John Plemons reviews some welding work. For information about the welding program and registration, call 903-885-1232.
Paris Junior College — located in Paris, Texas, about 100 miles northeast of Dallas — has been a part of the Lamar County community since 1924.
Paris Junior College offers Associate in Arts, Associate in Science and Associate in Applied Science degrees, as well as Certificates of Proficiency in technical/workforce fields. The college has expanded its academic curriculum through the years to encourage associate degree and university transfer candidates. Since establishing its first vocational program — jewelry and watchmaking in 1942 — the college has been aggressive in adding technical/workforce programs that will benefit students entering the workforce.
The campus of 54 tree-shaded acres includes 20 major buildings and residence halls and provides students a unique and pleasant environment for learning.
Paris Junior College also operates centers in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and in Greenville, Texas.
Vision
To be the educational provider of choice for the region.
Mission
Paris Junior College is a comprehensive community college serving the region’s educational and training needs while strengthening the economic, social and cultural life of our diverse community.
Team Tennis Set For Third Match of Week with Greenville Today
It has been a busy week for Team Tennis.
Team Tennis, led by Coach Tony Martinez, are set to take on Greenville when they host the Lions.
The match against Greenville is the third this week for team tennis, as they have already competed against two other schools in Mesquite Poteet, Bullard High (Tyler), and will now be taking on the Greenville Lions today at the tennis center in the SSISD Athletic Complex at 4 P.M.
Team tennis got their season underway last Monday, Aug. 2 when they hosted two DFW schools; Sherman and Denison, with Sulphur Springs dropping the first contest to Sherman before rebounding to take the game against Denison.
After they take on Greenville later today at 4 P.M., Coach Martinez and his squad will be back in Tyler for the second time in a week, this time at Tyler High, when they take on the Lions on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
School starts for Sulphur Springs ISD the day after, on Wednesday, Aug. 18.
The schedule for team tennis can be found here.
KSST is proud to be the official Wildcat and Lady Cat Station. We broadcast Sulphur Springs ISD games year round live on radio. When allowed, we also broadcast games via our YouTube channel.
‘The Wall That Heals’ Major Community Event Set For November 4-7, 2021 With Fundraisers in September
During the KSST Good Morning Show on Thursday August 12, 2021, a first interview on-air about the “The Wall That Heals” visit to Sulphur Springs was discussed with Committee members Danny Davis and Dena Loyd. Mandy Kennedy, who is spearheading the event, was not able to attend. As a result of her efforts as a member of the Veterans Memorial Committee. Sulphur Springs was selected as the only Texas town to receive a visit by ‘The Wall That Heals’ replica and mobile education center. During it’s planned visit November 4-7 of this year, TWTH will spread the healing legacy of Washington’s Vietnam Veterans Wall and educate about the impact of the Vietnam War. It also honors the more than three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam era, and bears the names of the 58,279 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice during that conflict. Local committee members and residents of Hopkins County are thrilled and excited about the opportunity to host the display.
Davis, a military veteran, is Hopkins County Treasurer and Veterans Service Officer. He counts it a special privilege to have a share in the unique 2021 event planning, and to help prepare the community to welcome as many as 30,000 visitors to our city over the four days of the display. Two days of preparation will begin on November 2, and dozens of volunteers will be needed. Ways you can help will be detailed in the coming days and weeks. Saturday November 6 may be the busiest day, with a Parade and the Heritage Car Show adding to the excitement in the downtown area of Sulphur Springs. Persons who wish to visit the traveling exhibit can do so with 24 hour access on the Sulphur Springs High School campus.
Funding is required to host the Wall, and that was provided in a generous donation by local resident Carol Gunn Vernon, who underwrite the cost of $10,000 so that Hopkins County can welcome home America’s Vietnam veterans. Sponsoring partners are SSISD, City of Sulphur Springs, and the Hopkins County Veterans Memorial. Other funding needed will be covered by a Yellow Ribbon Campaign and by two fundraising concerts. Gold Star mom Dena Loyd is organizing a concert by Neal McCoy for September 10 in the SSHS Auditorium. Local band Jason Walden and The Alibis will open that show. Walden’s band will also perform a concert for a private fundraising event on September 25 at Cedar Canyon Event Center in a Dinner and Dancing Night for 150 guests. For individuals, groups, clubs, business or industry who wish to give a donation toward this worthy cause, these can be made anytime by going to the website www.thewallthatheals.org.
CHRISTUS President/CEO Speaks About Current COVID Spike, Ways to Stay Safe
CHRISTUS Hospital in Sulphur Springs is experiencing a rise in COVID cases similar to hospitals in the surrounding area. President/CEO Paul Harvey joined KSST in an interview on the Good Morning Show with Enola Gay on Tuesday August 10, 2021 to share information for local residents, stressing that the procedures the public utilized earlier this year are still good weapons against the spread of the strain of virus now being encountered. And for persons who previously did not get the COVID-19 vaccine, he stated, “our local hospital is making the three types of vaccines easily available at no cost and with no appointment. It is every person’s own choice, but choosing to become vaccinated is the surest way we know to protect oneself against infection from COVID-19. Vaccine supplies are plentiful. Our public clinic is held each Friday morning from 9am -11am in the front lobby of the hospital, and will be held until further notice.
Harvey also talked about the closure of the Commerce ER and Rockwall ER units of other area hospitals. The closures are due to staff being needed at the hospitals those satellite ER’s are associated with. “Persons in the Commerce area who are experiencing COVID symptoms and wish to be tested or treated are welcome to come to Sulphur Springs. As of Tuesday morning August 12, there were 13 COVID cases in our hospital. We have beds and staff to care for persons needing care. Additionally, our URGENT Care clinic on South Broadway can administer COVID testing anytime they are open. And starting Monday August 16, 2021, URGENT Care will be open from 8am til 6pm Monday through Saturday. The address is 1339 South Broadway, and the phone number of 0-3-951-1001. Also, URGENT Care can see and treat accident and ,many emergency walk-ins. It is a useful alternative to care for persons who may not need to be hospitalized. As you may know, wait times are longer right now at the hospital emergency room as more COVID cases come in. We just want people to know that CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Sulphur Springs offers a safe, fully equipped environment, is accepting patients, and has beds and staff sufficient to care for them.”
Additionally, Harvey stated that the Sulphur Springs CHRISTUS location does not wish to reach a stage where we can’t do elective surgical procedures. We are still on schedule handling outpatient procedures. According to the Governor’s office, Texas hospitals will again be receiving assistance from State health nursing professionals, and so we expect to remain well-staffed as we go into a renewed season of COVID-19 cases.
Harvey also mentioned our Community Health Care center, called Carevide. Michelle Carter is CEO of the Sulphur Springs Carevide Center, which is located on the CHRISTUS campus at 106 Medical Circle. It specializes in offering family care, women’s health and pediatrics. Carevide is among other local community healthcare centers celebrating Community Health Care Center week, August 4-12.
115th COVID-19 Fatality Confirmed, 203 Active Cases Reported For Hopkins County
DSHS Resumes Filling Medical Staffing Requests
It’s no secret that COVID-19 cases have continued to rising once again in Texas – including Hopkins County. The 7-day state average of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 10,332, contributing to the 10,463 in Texas hospitals on Aug. 10. That is nearly 3,000 new confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations reported in the last week, according to Texas Department of State Health Services.
COVID-19 patients occupied 10,463 of the 59,886 staffed inpatient beds and 64,005 total beds in Texas hospital on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. That left only 7,772 hospital beds in the state of Texas, and only 368 ICU beds. Some hospitals in larger cities are so full due to COVID-19 cases and limited staff that some are having to divert incoming patients to other facilities because of lack of available beds and medical professionals to care for them.
Across Trauma Service Area F, in which Hopkins and most counties in northeastern Texas are located, COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased from 11.8 percent on Aug. 4 to 15.86 percent of the total hospital capacity on Aug. 10, 2021. CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs still has space that can be opened for COVID-19 patients. The hospital has averaged 14-15 patients daily this month., with as few as 13 in the COVID unit on Tuesday and as many as 16 last Wednesday, when 34 new cases were reported for Hopkins County (17 confirmed molecular and 17 new probable cases).
“Here at Christus Mother Frances -Sulphur Springs we are taking care of the COVID patients that are entering our doors. This morning we had 13 COVID patients here,” CMFH-SS CEO Paul Harvey said March 10.
Hunt Regional Emergency Medical Center at Commerce has been “temporarily closed” since Aug. 6, due to a “critical COVID surge.” Hunt Regional, in the announcement of the Commerce ER closing, noted that the Commerce staff is being redirected to Greenville due to the number of inpatients and urgent need for surge staffing.
HRHC’s goal is to reopen the Commerce facility at the end of August, provided the surge has lessened and staff is available to return
“We are experiencing a public health crisis and need your help. If you have not been vaccinated, please do so as soon as possible. Wear a mask when indoors and avoid non-essential gatherings,” the HRHC notice stated.
Another ER hospital in Rockwall that is part of the Texas Health Resource System has closed as well for the same reasons as the Commerce ER, Harvey said.
Harvey, during an Aug. 10 interview with Enola Gay Mathews on KSST’s Morning Show, said that Commerce patients needing medical care are welcome at Sulphur Springs hospital as well as Hunt County facilities. While there has been an increase in COVID cases in Hopkins County as well as in the COVID unit at the hospital over the last month, Harvey notes, CMFH-SS staff are “holding our own” even with an increase in COVID-19 cases
“We are still able to take patients here if they come into the emergency room or if they walk in. We are still doing outpatient procedures that help our patients get better. We do not want to go to a stage that we’re not able to do elective procedures. That, in our opinion, deters people from getting their timely health care, regardless of whether COVID is going on or not. Our goal is to continue to provide a safe environment for our associates and the patients, especially if you have COVID. We’ve been doing this now for 15 months,” Harvey said. “I’m very proud of our team, our physicians, our clinicians in what we’re doing in taking care of our patients.”
Harvey said the other hospitals in the Northeast Texas region are open, but all do have an influx of COVID patients right now.
“One of the difficult things right now is for people needing high level care, there has been some delays, not just in CHRISTUS, but in all of our health systems because of the influx, making sure we have enough staff to take care of those patients and to ensure that there’s a bed when they do go to another facility that a patient can properly receive the care in a safe environment,” Harvey said.
The longer the number of COVID-19 patients continues to surge, the more medical surge staff will be needed. To assist the exhausted health care facilities where staff have been treating COVID patients in addition to their other patients since March 2020.
DSHS Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 11, 2021, informed cities, counties and health care facilities that the state will resume filling requests for medical surge staff that cannot be met locally. DSHS is working with staffing agencies that are recruiting more than 2,500 medical personnel to assist hospitals and other health care facilities reaching capacity due to the current increase in COVID-19 cases. The priority, DSHS reports, is to recruit staff from out-of-state, and DSHS has directed the agencies not to utilize staff from other Texas health care facilities.
Facilities are to continue working with their counties, cities and other partners to meet needs locally whenever possible. They may, however, submit a State of Texas Assistance Request if additional resources are required. Facilities and local governments are asked to be judicious with their requests because there is a limited supply of staff available, and all regions of the state need assistance.
DSHS has funds available to support immediate staffing costs. However, extended staff deployments may require cost-sharing by local governments or individual facilities.
Thus, health officials are urging those who have yet to be vaccinated do so as soon as possible. Many healthcare officials are reporting that more than 90 percent of hospital COVID-19 patients consist of the unvaccinated.
DSHS also reports a seven day average of 64 fatalities for Texas, which increases the total number of Texans who have died from COVID-19 to 52,667. DSHS on Aug. 11 announced another Hopkins County COVID-19 fatality, increasing the total number of Hopkins County residents whose deaths have been attributed on each’s death certificate since July of 2020 to be a direct result of coronavirus.
The latest Hopkins County COVID death, according to the DHS COVID-19 County Trends dashboard, occurred on Aug. 6, a day in which 11 new confirmed cases, three new probable cases and11 recoveries were reported. Prior to last Friday, 68 days had passed since the last COVID-19 fatality was reported.
At one point, COVID numbers in Hopkins County had dwindled to the point CHRISTUS was able to report on July 7 that there were no COVID-19 patients in CMFH-SS – the first time since the unit was opened in March of 2020. The cases had continued to grow, to the point that the hospital had not only dedicated a larger part of the ICU for COVID-19 patients, but had also opened a whole section on the second floor to accommodate the influx not only for Hopkins County but cases brought in from surrounding counties served by Hopkins County EMS that do not have hospital facilities. The highest COVID-19 patient count in the local COVID-19 unit was 32 in January 2021.
The combined total of Hopkins County COVID cases dropped to the pandemic low of 56 cases (32 confirmed and 24 probable COVID cases), for the entire month of April 2021, when a total of 56 Hopkins County residents were also reported to have recovered from the virus. Unfortunately, the new COVID-19 case count for Hopkins County has been slowly edging up since then, with 89 new cases (53 confirmed and 36 new probable cases) reported in May, 80 in May (63 confirmed and 27 probable) in June, and 133 in July 2021 (83 confirmed and 50 probable cases).
Not quite 2 weeks into August, Hopkins County has already exceeded the monthly total for July. As of Aug. 11, a total of 158 new COVID cases were reported in people with Hopkins County addresses. That’s 113 lab-confirmed molecular COVID cases, 45 additional probable cases and only 59 recoveries so far. That means there were 203 active COVID-19 cases in Hopkins County on Aug. 11, 2021,
The last time more than 200 active COVID-19 cases were reported for Hopkins County was in February. Hopkins County’s active case count climbed to 203 on Feb. 10, then peaked for the month at 220 on Feb. 15, a day in which only one probable case was recorded.
The 19 new molecular cases recorded Monday, 11 on Tuesday and 13 on Wednesday pushed the cumulative total since March 2020 for Hopkins County to 2,132. At total of 1,788 probable cases have also been recorded since the state started tracking the data last fall, including three new probable cases on Aug. 9, six on Aug. 10 and 13 on Aug. 11. That’s 3,920 total Hopkins County residents who have had COVID since March 2020, including 3,603 who had recovered as of Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 11, 2021. Of the 59 recoveries this month, 26 were reported this week — 23 were reported Monday, two Tuesday and one on Wednesday.
Harvey said CMFH-SS while the hospital has scaled back visitation again, restricting it due to the rise in COVID 19 in the community and hospital, the hospital has continued to take safety precautions the entire 15 months of the COVID pandemic, to enable patients to safely receive the medical care needed including regular appointments at the Sulphur Springs CHRISTUS facilities
“We just want to ensure our community and our service area that we will continue to provide that safe environment for that,” Harvey said. “That does require, since we’ve had a rise in COVID, that we are having to limit visitation like we did. But, for the most part, people have been very understanding. We are back to full masking in the hospital, but that is only for our associates’ protection and our patients.”
The hospital CEO said one trend CMFHSS is seeing in patients hospitalized with COVID is that they are younger than the patients hospitalized when COVID peaked last year, and most of the people being hospitalized are not vaccinated.
“It’s kind of interesting to see that — that the vaccine can make a difference,” Harvey said.
CHRISTUS MFH-SS currently and will continue indefinitely to offer a COVID vaccine clinic every Friday. Anyone age 12 and up who has not had a dose of any of the different COVID shots can visit the hospital lobby between 9 and 11 a.m. any Friday to get a COVID vaccine. The hospital currently has all three of the COVID-19 vaccines: the 2-dose Pfizer, 2-dose Moderna and 1-dose Johnson & Johnson. The patient must be 18 or older to receive the Moderna and J&J vaccines, and 12 or older for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“Seeing a little rise in numbers wanting vaccine. That’s a good thing. It’s one way to help keep the COVID rise down, if people do get the vaccinations, but that is a personal choice,” Harvey said, noting that on Aug. 6, a total of 71 people received doses of COVID vaccine.
COVID vaccines are also available at Walgreens, CVS, Cody Drug, Brookshire’s and Walmart pharmacies in Sulphur Springs. Information on which COVID vaccine each provider has and how to the facility may be found online at https://www.vaccines.gov/ by clicking the blue Find COVID-19 Vaccines button.
