Quitman Community Hospital: Caroline Gaines

by | Jan 25, 2022

The rural community of Marks, MS was devastated by the closure of their hospital five years ago. Quitman County hospital, a former customer of nexAir, closed its doors in October of 2016 leaving the community without basic medical services in their area. Quinten Whitwell, the co-owner of Panola Medical Center, the nearest facility to Quitman County, was home during his mandatory COVID quarantine when he learned the Certificate of Need for the Quitman County Hospital was due to expire on October 31st, 2021. The expiration meant Quitman County, MS would never again be able to apply to the state of Mississippi to open or reopen a hospital. It was the perfect opportunity to try and reopen Quitman County Hospital. It wasn’t until late September that Territory Manager, Caroline Gaines, started working on the seven-week hard deadline. nexAir’s Cryogenics team was able to assist in the opening by providing a temporary portable oxygen USP trailer, and quickly transporting and filling the unit. Placing the portable unit and delivering all cylinders during the last week of their deadline allowed for the Quitman community to meet the requirements of the state of Mississippi and therefore renew their certificate of need on Friday, October 29th, the last business day of their deadline.

nexAir’s Productivity team, Customer Support Center, and Cryogenics teams all collaborated and used their collective KnowHow to help Caroline take on this challenging and crucial deadline. The quick timeline, the ability to source equipment in this market, the internal and external teamwork, and ultimately the ability to open a hospital for a rural community that needed it made this a proud moment for nexAir.