Quick take
- On Oct. 22 the Quorum Court passed Ordinance 2026-14, creating a five-member Hempstead County Hospital Board. The county judge nominates members and the Quorum Court confirms them. Justices of the peace can’t serve.
- The board will handle money from the 0.75% county hospital sales tax that took effect Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2036, plus any bond money.
- The Nov. 3 ballot question asks voters to let the county issue up to $13.5 million in bonds, repaid from that tax, for hospital roof repairs, equipment and other work. Bond counsel told the court in July it is not a new tax.
- The court also picked Cromwell and Associates as architect and Ideal Construction as construction manager for the hospital work.
Hempstead County now has a board to watch over the money for its hospital in Hope, and on Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters decide whether the county can borrow against that money to fix the place up faster.
The new board
The Quorum Court approved Ordinance 2026-14 on Thursday, Oct. 22, creating a five-member Hempstead County Hospital Board, swark.today reported. It will administer money from the 0.75% county sales and use tax for Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center, plus any bond money if voters approve the bonds. The tax took effect Oct. 1, 2026, and runs through Sept. 30, 2036.
County Judge Jerry Crane nominates the members and the Quorum Court confirms them. The first terms are staggered from one to five years; after that, terms are five years, with no more than two in a row. No Quorum Court member can serve on the board, which has to follow state bidding and purchasing laws, Hope Prescott and swark.today reported.
What’s on the Nov. 3 ballot
The ballot question asks whether the county can issue up to $13.5 million in bonds for improvements at the county-owned hospital. The bonds would be paid back from the hospital sales tax voters already approved in June. "So again, no tax increase other than what the voters have already approved," bond counsel Ryan Bowman told the court in July, swark.today reported.
The point is speed. Justice of the Peace Ed Darling said the tax should bring in about $3 million a year, and the bonds would let the county replace aging equipment and repair the hospital roof now instead of waiting for the tax money to pile up. If the bonds pass, the court would authorize the sale early next year, with money available in the first quarter of 2027.
Who will do the work
The court also approved a scoring committee’s picks for the project: Cromwell and Associates as architect and Ideal Construction as construction manager. Darling said the firms offered ideas to cut costs and had experience with similar projects, swark.today and Hope Prescott reported.