2nd Claw Postage at Tryon. North Carolina 28782
and additional post offices. Postmaster: send
address changes to The Tryon Daily Bulletin. PO.
Box 790, Tryon. N. C. 28782
POLK LIBRARY
.RI. ■ , 204 WALKER ST.
COLUMBUS, N C 28722
THE WORLD’S SMALLEST DAILY NEWSPAPER
Founded Jan. 31. 1928 by Seth M. Vining
(Consolidated with the Polk County News 1955)
Jeffrey A. Byrd, Editor and Publisher
The Tryon Daily Bulletin (USPS 643-360) is
published daily except Sat. and Sun. for 535 per
year by the Tryon Daily Bulletin, Inc. 106 N. Trade
St., P.O. Box 790. Tryon. N.C. 28782
The Tryon Daily Bulletin
Printed in the THERMAL BELT of Western North Carolina
Phone 859-9151
16 Pages Today
Vol. 65 - No. 122
TRYON, N.C. 28782
THURSDAY, JULY 23,1992
25C Per Copy
The weather Tuesday: high
92, low 67, hum. 65 percent.
There was quite a light show in
the skies Tuesday night.
Jacque Minick was on the
front page of the Henderson
ville Times-NewsWednesday
morning sporting a Ross Perot
For President t-shirt with a
large dark blue, electrical tape
"X" across the lettering.
Minick, Polk County coordi
nator for the Ross Perot cam
paign, is pictured at the Blue
Grotto Pub where she and other
mourning Ross Perot supporters
attended a Ross Perot Wake
Tuesday night. In the back
ground can be seen Lili Hahn
and Virginia Baldwin.
"I hate to give up on it
because I think he has some
really good ideas," Minick said
of Perot. Polk County Perot
supporters have no formal plans
at this point to carry on beyond
Perot's self disengagement from
the race, she added.
What's happening:
The Polk County Athletic
Boosters Club will meet today
at 7:30 p.m. at Stearns Educa
tional Center. Tlie club repre
sents all children in athletic
programs grades 7 to 12. Any
parent who has a child in ath-
(Continued On Back Page)
Communication:
Dear Jeff:
As Chairman of the Board of
Trustees of St. Luke's Hospital,
I want to clarify some of the
issues that impact the future of
the hospital.
I have served on the hospital
board in various capacities for
11 years and have seen the
hospital evolve into an excep
tional healthcare facility.
Throughout our history we have
faced difficult situations. Let
me assure you, we are currently
in a far better position to meet
the present challenge than we
have been at any time in the
past.
St. Luke's has over $3 million
in liquid assets. Those assets
allow us time to analyze our
role within the healthcare
delivery system and make res
ponsible choices. None of
those choices includes closing
the hospital. THERE WILL
ALWAYS BE A ST. LUKE'S.
True, St. Luke's has lost a
considerable amount of money
this year, but we are not alone.
There is a national crisis in
rural healthcare delivery which
is compounded by a number of
factors beyond our control —
declining inpatient volume,
inadequate Medicare reim
bursement, and the choice of
physicians to practice else
where. All rural hospitals are
reexamining their alternatives.
As a result of our strategic
planning process, a committee
of trustees and physicians has
been established to develop a
(Continued On Back Page)
Tryon Valley 411
Tryon Valley Chapter 411
will meet today (Thursday) at
5:00 p.m. at the Lodge Hall on
Markham Road. WM Sister
Louise Payton, Sec. Sister Betty
Thompson.
-Community Reporter
Democrats To Meet
Polk County Democratic
Men's Club will meet Sat., July
25 at 8:00 a.m. at the Demo
cratic Headquarters in Colum
bus. Biscuits and coffee will be
served. All Democrat men arc
invited.
-Community Reporter
Buy New Home
Bob and Olga Balme, from
Cobleskill, N.Y., have pur
chased the home of Ed and
Lucille Woodruff on Warrior
Dr., Tryon. The Balmes were
enticed to Tryon by their good
friends, Dick and Janet Cannon.
Bob is a retired journalist and
newspaperman and hopes to do
some writing and consulting
after they are settled in Tryon.
He also does woodworking in
his spare time, most specifically
building whimmy-diddles.
Olga loves horses and animals.
Penny Kessler of First Real
Estate sold the Woodruffs
home, which was listed by
Veda Pullen of Bailey-Pullen.
-Community Reporter
Read The Bulletin
For Local News
Records Show
Consistent St. Luke's
Admissions by Drs.
Low inpatient admissions
are causing financial shortages
at St. Luke's Hospital, yet
use of other hospital services
have increased.
Inpatient admissions are
down 13% for the first nine
months of the 1991-92 St.
Luke's fiscal year, reported
President Thomas Bradshaw.
From October through June of
this year, 922 patients have
been admitted to St. Luke's
compared to 1,061 during the
same time the prior year, he
pointed out.
Surgical cases have been
down 20% this year compared
to the same period last year,
Bradshaw said. Only 628 sur
gical procedures have been
performed at St. Luke's from
Oct. through June this year,
compared to 784 the year
before, he said. However, St.
Luke's has only had one sur
geon for the last year and a half,
he added. A new surgeon, Dr.
Martin Fischer, comes on board
Aug. 1.
In the same time period,
emergency room visits have’
risen 4% and the Caregiver
Program is up 30%, Bradshaw
said.
"The real dollars are in
admissions to the hospital"
explained Bradshaw.
According to admissions
records, the problem is not that
physicians are referring less
patients to St. Luke's The
(Continued On Back Page)