Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville, Alabama plans to open multiple new medical clinics in Winston County. The hospital acquired an existing medical clinic in December 2018 and filed the necessary paperwork to establish two new rural health clinics in January 2019. The clinics will open once the new clinic applications have been processed and approved by state and federal authorities.

One of the clinics will be located in Arley or Addison. Ashley Pool, Chief Operating Officer of Lakeland, stated: “We have been actively looking at potential clinic locations in Arley and Addison and will be opening a clinic in Arley, Addison or both. We had hoped to have it open last year but had to delay due to some litigation that has now been resolved.” The clinic plans to treat patients with a wide array of medical conditions from sore throats and flu to complex chronic medical conditions.

A second clinic will be opened in Haleyville right next to the hospital and will focus on wellness and preventative care. Ashoke “Bappa” Mukherji, the CEO of the company that manages the hospital, explained: “One of the main elements of the hospital turn-around plan was to focus on preventative care. It makes the most sense to place a wellness clinic right next to the hospital where we have a wide array of diagnostic equipment.” The clinic space has been built out and is ready to open as soon as the application has been finalized.

The medical clinic that the hospital acquired in December will be relocated into a larger office in Haleyville. Judy Bittinger, the chairperson of the Health Care Authority of Haleyville and Winston County, Alabama, commented: “One of the most exciting aspects of the clinic expansion plan is that not only are we bringing additional services to the citizens of Winston County, we will create new quality jobs and recruit medical providers into the county.”

Lakeland Community Hospital is a 49-bed acute care hospital located in Haleyville, Alabama. The hospital offers healthcare services to the area including a 24/7 Emergency Room, intensive care unit, inpatient medical detoxification, diagnostic imaging, home health services, and inpatient geriatric behavioral health care. Lakeland is the only 5-Star Rated hospital in Alabama.

With all members present, the Haleyville City Board of Education met Tuesday and approved the board expenditures for March in the amount of $1,329,792.10. The board also approved joining the Purchasing Association of Central Alabama (PACA) for CNP bids. The Haleyville Elementary School will host the HES Summer STEAM Camp in June. Five requests for the use of school facilities, one field trip, and two fundraisers were approved.

In personnel actions, the Board accepted the resignations of Kristi Ward as HMS Volleyball Coach, Kara West as HMS Girl’s Basketball Coach, Tiffany Smith and HHS/HMS Special Education Teacher and Olivia Tank as HMS Cheerleader Sponsor. Bryan Steele was hired as the Maintenance and Grounds Assistant for HCS. Jayme Hall was approved for the position of HMS Volleyball Coach, Lori Crook for HMS Cheerleader Sponsor, Callie Pendley for HMS Girls Basketball Coach and Jessica Musso as HES school teacher.

Selected as teachers for the HES Summer STEAM Camp were Olivia Tank, Lisa Cook, Amy Cagle, Jayme Hall, Shanda Barnett, and Brandi Crumpton.  Continue reading

Tower crews and technicians were busy Monday, April 22, installing cell phone antennas and radios for T-Mobile on a tower which until now has been sitting empty for several years. The tower is located on Ellenburg Drive, just off Dime Road in NW Haleyville. Two other carriers have licenses to operate from the same tower, but T-Mobile will be the first. One of the other carriers is reported to be AT&T. The crane was brought in from Birmingham on Friday, April 19, but because of the weather and Easter, work did not begin until Monday.

A proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint has been met with opposition. A couple of dozen opponents of the T-Mobile-Sprint deal say the companies have not come close to establishing that the merger of the number three and four wireless carriers is in the public interest and told the FCC again this week not to approve it.

If you have AT&T cell service, you may want to call the company and encourage them to add the Ellenburg Drive location to their system as soon as possible.

Friday, May 3 at 6:00 p.m. Martie will be in Hamilton, AL, cooking some of her favorite recipes and demonstrating the advantage of cooking with natural gas. Martie will be available to sign copies of her latest book, “Alabama Cravings” featuring recipes from around the state

Prizes will be given away throughout the evening, including a Whirlpool Natural Gas Stove used by Martie that night. We will be set-up on the south side of the courthouse.

The Haleyville High Lions Baseball Team defeated the Fairview Aggies in the first round of the state 4A baseball playoffs on Saturday 4-3 after a four-run 5th inning in game one. In game 2, the Lions had a 7 run 6th inning which propelled the Lions to a 12-3 win. These wins advance the Lions to round 2 of the playoffs either at Priceville or DAR this coming Saturday. This story will be updated as the other teams will be playing on Monday and Tuesday.

Braving cold winds and a wet field, the annual Haleyville Lions Club/Paradise 92.7 East Egg Hunt was a huge success. Thanks to all who attended and congratulations to all the winners of the many gift baskets and prizes! Happy Easter!

After the storm moved through Haleyville and Northwest Alabama Thursday night, the report of downed trees blocking roads meant local fire departments were called out to clear them. Both Lynn and Ashridge Fire Departments were out clearing around 10 p.m. and the Haleyville Fire Department was called to a downed power line and grass fire on Hoggle Ridge Road. There was no report of any injuries.

The Haleyville High Lions has rescheduled two games against Fairview from Friday, April 19. They will be played on Saturday at home at 1 & 3. This will be the best 2 out of 3 games. If both teams win one game each Saturday, the third game will be played on Monday. Hear the games live on Paradise 92.7.

The Free State Theater Troupe, sponsored by the Winston County Arts Council, recently held a comedy performance, “Hilarity and Hoopla” at Looney’s Dual Destiny Theater in Double Springs. The performances included students from Haleyville, Lynn, Winston County, and Addison High Schools, Double Springs Middle School and Meek Elementary School.  The performances were Directed by Beth Gilbreath.

Haleyville students shown are (front L-R) Metty Wilson, Zoe Smith, (rear L-R) Zoe Lawler, Cadey Lawler, and Matt Thompson.