Congressman John Shimkus had a meet and greet with leaders from Fayette County Hospital on Thursday morning. Congressman Shimkus got to take a look at the recently completed renovations at Fayette County Hospital, and then talked with Hospital CEO Greg Starnes and other gathered leaders of the hospital on a number of topics. Starnes started off the address to the Congressman by talking about the positive impact that Fayette County Hospital has on the area economy. Starnes pointed out Fayette County Hospital employs better than 320 people, which is the 2nd largest employer in Fayette County, and has a total payroll of 11.6 million dollars. And, the total economic impact the hospital has on the region is well over 60 million dollars. Starnes also talked about the number of patients Fayette County Hospital has treated in the past year. Starnes says in 2015 Fayette County Hospital had 2,833 inpatient visits, 49,786 outpatient visits and procedures, 7,713 emergency room visits and performed 996 surgeries. Some of the federal changes with health care were discussed and the impact they have had on rural hospitals and the financial burden that some of these changes have caused in some cases. We will have much more from the Congressman’s visit to Fayette County Hospital coming up on Monday during NewsCenter.