Local rural hospital losing millions of dollars following cuts from One Big Beautiful Bill Act

EVANS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock visited Evans Memorial and looked at not only their new services, but services they will be forced to cut due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“Let me tell you I have not seen people more committed to their work. The folks in this building do heroic work,” said Senator Warnock.

Evans Memorial CEO Bill Lee says that the hospital will be forced to cut around $3.3 million from their annual budget.

This is after the hospital also had to cut their OBGYN services.

Lee says there could be more cuts on the horizon.

“We are forced to think about issues and services that we would need to cut, ICU would be one that would fall quickly on the list,” said Lee.

Senator Warnock says some hospitals will be forced to close.

“This is a matter of life and death and in spite of the heroic work that people in this building are doing every single day,” said Senator Warnock. “It increases the likely hood of this hospital or hospitals like it will close. Or if they don’t close, they will have to face critical services.”

This is a bill that Congress passed, and President Trump signed in hopes of maintaining income tax cuts from his first term and cutting down on Medicaid costs.

WTOC reached out to Republican Congressman Buddy Carter who says quote, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created an unprecedented $50 billion fund for rural hospitals, ensuring they have the resources available to provide high-quality care for patients”.

Lee tells WTOC that he hopes rural hospitals just like Evans, find a way to survive these budget cuts.

“I’m a firm believer that it isn’t about bipartisan politics this is about relevance and survivability,” said Lee.