In the fall of 2021, Athens-Limestone Hospital Wellness Center members were stunned by the surprise announcement that the pool facilities were closing permanently at the end of that calendar year.

Traci Collins, president of ALH, cited financial deficit prohibiting replacement of equipment plus monthly operational costs. I spoke by phone directly with Ms. Collins, who informed me of her ultimate desire to repurpose the pool area as office space.

Chairman Collin Daly and members of the Limestone County Commission forged a deal with Ms. Collins for the year 2022, keeping the pools open. The wellness center pool facility houses Limestone County’s only indoor lap pool, a warm water rehabilitation pool, plus a separate hot tub. For many people it is the only accessible facility for water-based exercise.

During the first half of 2022, I spoke again with Ms. Collins, emphasizing the willingness of our committee to work with the ALH administration for fund raising, promotion of the facility, and management suggestions. Ms. Collins declined all requests to meet with our committee and assured me that the hospital administration did not need assistance. Several weeks ago, we were reassured by Mr. Daly of a verbal commitment between Daly and Collins to keep the facility open and to replace a nonfunctional dehumidification system. Without warning, Ms. Collins has now declared the pools permanently closed.

Despite the Limestone County Commission shouldering all of the 2022 ongoing operational costs of the pool facility, the ALH administration chose not to fund a capital expenditure (estimated last year to be approximately $250,000) to replace the pool dehumidification system. This cost has reportedly now risen to $500,000, due to humidity damage resulting from failure to replace the system in a timely fashion.

The problem is not entirely the money itself. Ms. Collins would have the public believe that the pool situation is a binary choice between “critical medical equipment” and equipment for a pool facility. Clearly the choice is whether to provide a capital expenditure for a facility which has served the Limestone County community well for the past 24 years … or a significantly greater capital expenditure for an office renovation.

The problem is a failure of local hospital leadership and management or the Huntsville Hospital system administration (elephant in the room) dictating corporate marching orders. Before irreparable harm occurs to the pool facility, ALH should relinquish managerial control to a competent team appointed and overseen by city and/or county leaders. There are many examples of well-managed pool facilities in Alabama and surrounding states, and there is no reason the citizens of Limestone County should be deprived of this one.

I call on members and friends of the Limestone County community to support the Friends of the Wellness Center in our effort to stop this travesty.

Jon D. Turner, MD

Ardmore