A power outage attributed to funding cuts at Ripley, Tenn.-based Lauderdale Community Hospital forced patients to relocate Dec. 31, according to a Fox 13 news report.
Hospital CEO Mike Layfield told Fox 13 he blamed the outage on "funding cutbacks – like many other small hospitals are experiencing."
The power to the 25-bed critical access hospital shut off between 11 a.m. and noon, and a backup generator ran for hours. The two nearest hospitals where patients were relocated were 20 to 30 minutes away.
Editor's Note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Lauderdale Community Hospital for comment. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.