HEALTHCARE COALITION URGES EMERGENCY DECLARATION IN PULASKI COUNTY AS HOSPITAL STAFF FACE PAY VACCUM AND UTILITY SHUT-OFFS

HAWKINSVILLE, GA — The Pulaski County Healthcare and Wellbeing Coalition Initiative has issued a formal demand to local elected leadership to declare an immediate Localized State of Emergency. The action follows a severe, ongoing financial crisis at Taylor Regional Hospital that has left frontline healthcare workers without pay for multiple consecutive pay periods, triggering a localized humanitarian and public health emergency.

Despite continuing to provide essential medical care to the region, dozens of hospital employees are now facing immediate home utility disconnections, empty pantries, and severe housing instability. A significant portion of the affected workforce consists of parents responsible for young dependent children who are now cut off from basic household necessities. Concurrently, reduced operations at the hospital have heavily strained the county's emergency medical infrastructure.

In an urgent joint letter delivered to Pulaski County Sole Commissioner Jenna S. Mashburn, Hawkinsville City Manager Sara Myers, and Assistant City Manager Jessica Davies, the Coalition outlines specific emergency powers authorized under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 38-3-27) that must be deployed within 24 hours.

The formal demand requires local leadership to implement a three-pronged emergency plan:

Mandatory Utility Restoration and Freeze: Issue an emergency executive order banning all future utility disconnections for verified hospital staff and legally mandating providers to immediately reverse and reconnect all services already shut off—waiving all late fees and penalties.
Emergency Financial Relief: Immediately divert local contingency funds to establish emergency food distributions and childcare vouchers for affected families.
Escalate for State Aid: Utilize the local emergency declaration to unlock state-level financial interventions and public health resources from the Governor’s Office and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA).
"Our healthcare workers have stood on the front lines to protect Hawkinsville and Pulaski County through every major crisis," said Representative Yvonne E. Moore-Roundtree. "Now, they face an artificial economic disaster that threatens their homes and their children. Expecting parents to care for the sick while they cannot afford electricity or milk for their own families is unconscionable. Local government has the legal tool to stop this today, and they must use it."

The Pulaski County Healthcare and Wellbeing Coalition Initiative is calling on all local business owners, residents, and civic leaders to stand in solidarity with the hospital workforce. The Coalition is organizing a public presence at the upcoming county and city governance meetings to ensure leadership acts swiftly to protect its citizens.

For more information on the Coalition's initiatives, to sign the public petition, or to coordinate community relief drop-offs for affected families, please contact The Healthcare And Wellbeing Coalition Initiative at (770) 520-4901 or via email at yvonneroundtree3@gmail.com.