xxxx ANNUAL PIEDMONT THROTTLE KING’S CAR SHOW AND SWAP MEET SATURDAY AT FAGAN’S PARK RECIPES / COMMUNITY, 4
BASEBALL 2014 / SPORTS, 8,10
MANDY POPE SAYS HER STUDENTS KEEP HER YOUNG
BULLDOGS, PANTHERS OFF TO GOOD STARTS
The Piedmont Journal www.thepiedmontjournal.com
75 CENTS
WEDNESDAY // MARCH 12, 2014
MAKING CHANGES
RMC Jacksonville closing some departments Intensive care unit and obstetrics will be combined with Anniston location LAURA GADDY Consolidated News Service Regional Medical Center officials this week said they had closed the intensive care unit at RMC Jacksonville, and that the smaller hospital’s obstetrics services will be combined with those at the main campus in Anniston. “We will do our best to offer affected employees a position within the RMC system,” RMC President and CEO David McCormack wrote in an email sent Wednesday. McCormack’s statement did not specify how many staff members will be affected by the change. Multiple attempts to reach hospital offi-
cials by phone Thursday were unsuccessful. McCormack said in the email that with federal spending cuts and reductions in the reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid, the nonprofit hospital system must look for ways to increase efficiency. Administrators felt that because most women in the area go to RMC’s main campus for obstetric and gynecological services, and because most of the system’s doctors in that field work in Anniston, combining the departments would be cost effective. RMC spokeswoman Hillary Folsom wrote in an email that the hospital system closed RMC Jacksonville’s intensive care unit two months ago. ■ See RMC, page 5
File Photo
RMC bought Jacksonville Hospital in December 2012. This photo shows the new sign back then.
JOURNAL FEATURE
New location gives Pope Realty more space FOWLER
Veteran newsman died Sunday in Anniston LAURA GADDY Consolidated News Service
Anita Kilgore
Phillip Pope has four realtors working with him in and around the Piedmont area.
Phillip Pope volunteers with Carpenters for Christ
P
MARGARET ANDERSON Journal News Editor
hillip Pope has been in business, either by himself or with his family, since 1987. Pope said it’s been a wonderful adventure for himself and for his family. Pope was born in Piedmont to Clarence Charles “Teddy” and Lottie Sue (Gossett) Pope. He graduated from Piedmont High School in 1985 and went on receive a degree in finance at Jacksonville State University. “We opened Pope Furniture in Piedmont in 1987 so that was my job throughout college,” said Pope. “A lot of my friends graduated and left town but I have never wanted to live anywhere else.” Later, he and his sister, Phyllis Hunt, built a furniture store
south of Jacksonville called Foothills Furniture. He was licensed as an appraiser in 1993 and worked with Lillian Canter who owned Piedmont Realty. Shortly afterward he was licensed as a realtor and continued to work for Canter. After she retired in 1999, he opened Pope Realty. “We sold Foothills Furniture in 1997 and eventually closed Pope Furniture in 2000, so that I could focus on the real estate business full time,” said Pope. “It’s a bit confusing since there is currently a Pope Furniture in Piedmont. I still get the occasional call about furniture, but that’s not me. “ In August, he moved Pope Realty to a new location, 202 N. Main St. “We love it where we are,” said Pope. “We shared a very small office for 14 years. Now we have a whole lot more space. ■ See POPE, page 5
666000999999 PU
■ See FOWLER, page 5
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THE PEIDMONT JOURNEL
VOLUME 33 | NO. 11
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OBITUARIES See page 3
• Frances S. Ray, 93 6
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Longtime newspaperman Ed Fowler died from an illness early Sunday, just a week after ending a career that spanned more than four decades. During his time in journalism, Fowler, 67, worked at Alabama papers such as The Tuscaloosa News, The Montgomery Advertiser and The Anniston Star. By the time Fowler was hired at The Daily Home in Talladega in 1992, he had already spent almost two decades in the business. Fowler’s wife, Trisha, said he died early Sunday morning at Regional Medical Center in Anniston. “Last week when I saluted my old friend Ed on his retirement, I never expected I wouldn’t see him again,” wrote Brandt Ayers, chairman of Consolidated Publishing Co. and publisher of
TEMPS TO DIP BELOW FREEZING AGAIN TONIGHT
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