No action was taken by Bamberg County Council at the Tuesday, January 25, 2011 special meeting. The purpose of the meeting was for County Council to meet jointly with the Bamberg County Hospital Board Finance Committee to discuss a “legal/contractual matter concerning the Bamberg County Hospital.”

Rose Dobson-Elliot, the administrator for the County said no action was taken. During a telephone interview with this reporter, Dobson- Elliott said the status of the hospital is basically “unknown. “We discussed a lot of things. A lot of people in the community are saying things that are not true. We have not made any decisions about anything,” she said. The 5:00 p.m. special meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Almost all of that time was spent in executive session. “We received updates from Richard Ness (county attorney), and Alan Townsend and Christ Mattingly.” Townsend and Mattingly represent the management group of the Financial Resources Group who is the interim management group for the hospital.

The county administrator is asking the public to exercise patience while county council moves through the process. “Once we progress far enough, there will still have to be public hearings and meetings. There is a public process to follow. We can’t just make decisions without the involvement of the public,” noted Dobson-Elliott.

Dobson-Elliott does want the community to know that all three counties (Bamberg, Barnwell and Allendale) are very much in support of a tricounty health care program.

“We believe it (tri-county health care) will improve our health care system,” she said. A Bamberg County Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 31. However, Dobson-Elliot does not anticipate a discussion concerning this matter to take place during that meeting. She said the matter is not on the agenda and no one has given her any indication that they plan to add it to the agenda.