Portland, Tennessee Blog

Well, as dull as Portland is..........we do have those Red Hatters and did you see the rather risque looking dancers ??? Was that a snake costume ?? It was hard to tell WHAT that was in the picture...

I thought the mayor and his wife looked so elegant.....that was neat....and the postmaster and his wife. That's a beautfiul building they have on Main St. If you ignore everything else around, you can almost visualize a beautiful Main St. I hope everyone else that owns a business there will follow suit and beautify their properties.

Seriously....I'm really glad that Portland has the ballroom dancing....that's a step forward..pardon the pun....

As far as the Red Hatters go.....well, they are colorful and make a pretty color picture for the front page of the paper.....:)

Keep up the good work, dancers and hatters....

Studies are showing more people are moving into bigger cities, especially into downtowns. People are less likely now to live in Portland drive to Nashville for work, unless they've already been doing so. The recent spike in gas made it more economical for people to pay more to live in a big city where they have everything they need, as opposed to living in a city like portland and having to drive. I think the people in Portland are great, but I really don't Portland growing. When LBTD was defeated last, it seemed that was the final nail. Now with the poor economy, you have to ask yourself, what does Portland really have to offer, especially for young people starting families and looking for jobs. You can't live off what most the factories in the area pay, and there isn't a draw for businesses to build around. Though it was defeated easily, I thought mike callis's proposal of raising the local sales tax for a civic center was a good idea. You have to have something, anything. I know, no one wants to pay more, but at least then you could have seen your money going to something. What does it go to now beyond the basic services? It's all dinner and no dessert.
Portland will always be a great, small town. If you want more than what it offers right now, you probably need to look elsewhere.

I agree w/Brian and TopCat...I have lived here in Portland for 5 years and have yet to see any significant improvements being made in retail or otherwise...finally gave up hope, and just go to Franklin, KY or Rivergate or Bowling Green...Groceries here are too expensive and when you add TN tax on top of it, it is waay not cost effective...Portland may not be able to compete with Kentucky's no tax on food, but they could compete w/the resturaunt industry, the clothing, department stores, etc. I don't know what the problem is, but other towns around seem to be able to support new businesses, why can't Portland? I still think a small outlet mall near the Interstate would be a good idea and an O'Charley's, or something comparable would do well. I like McDonalds, Sonic, Arbys, Krystal and Hardees, but I get pretty tired of them and have to go to another town to get anything different...If I ever get lucky enough to win the Powerball, I'll consider putting in some new businesses myself...until then, guess I'll just keep makin' those little out of town trips..

Great post Brian. The town has not been able to put a total package together, instead being real good on a few things, real bad on others. Industrial development thrived during the last century mainly due to a turn key developer, who has carried this town on his back for 25 years. Let's face it, the citizens of Portland have not always been gracious in supporting local business; example: it has always been so easy to cross the state line and drop the coin. We have dropped enough coin that more business developed and more coins were dropped, let me point out that not all the business in Kentucky have been successful. To go down the ridge to Gallatin has been a long time pain for many of the "ridgerunners" here in Portland, our money was looked at like it was foreign currency. A few of the businesses that have located here have not provided adequate service, thus the customer has looked elsewhere. The bottom line, many think that the citizens here will accept only what they deem to be good enough, but we the citizens expect so much more for the hard earned dollar we spend, and we deserve it

Brian,
Amen, Preach It Mister!!

This is par for the course in this town it seems. Since my wife and I moved here 2 years ago this town has lost more businesses than it has gained. Every weekend we venture out to civilization (i.e. Gallatin or Hendersonville) and see that they are leasing business sites faster than they can be built.

The closing of this hospital will be another nail in the town’s coffin. We also noticed that during the elections all of the campaign mail for those running for local government prided themselves on being from Portland or being a resident of 20+ years. Maybe this is the problem...lack of experience in a thriving city, or no experience attracting new business, limited vision development and so on. These leaders should be swaying constituents that passing the liquor by the drink law wouldn't mean that Satan would move to town, but would open the door for real restaurant opportunities and JOBS. We have to get past the Mayberry thoughts and move into a 21st century business planning and industry seeking mode to entice investors to develop here.

The reality is this...we have to seek new leadership in this town or we will never get beyond the grocery store strip malls that seem to be the only small to medium size businesses that can survive in Portland.

Remembering a cute carton I once saw depicting a dinosaur on its back with the caption above that read "Adapt or Die". I would prefer that this town evolves rather than shutter the remaining industry that we have now. They should be out encouraging residents to stay here and shop here. Let’s boost our local economy rather than watch them drive to neighboring communities to aid in their success while our local businesses dwindle. There are not options here to keep people local.

It's unfortunate that the hospital is closing. However a good idea for use of the building would be to relocate Highland Manor Nursing Home there after the nessecary additions and renovations have taken place. The current nursing home facility is in disgraceful condition and is very filthy. My grandmother just spent three weeks at Highland Manor recovering from a fractured hip. I feared for her safety and well-being the entire time because the building is an unsanitary firetrap. While the hospital building is not brand new, it would serve a much better purpose as the new nursing home location.

No hospital is perfect. My mother died at Sumner Regional due to a misdiagnosis. And I have had bad experiences at Vanderbilt. But the fact here is Portland is losing our community hospital. I know from past experiences that the emergency room has saved lives, because they were there. And now they are not going to be there and the people of this community will be the ones to suffer. This is a sad time for Portland. I have to agree with the quote from Dr. Ruckle in last weeks paper, "Life in Portland will not be as safe as it was before"

I agree with ReadyForQualifiedCare. I have gone to the ER at PMC once to only be misdiagnosed. After sitting in the exam room for over four hours, I was told that I had a Urinary Tract Infection. I was sent home with medicine and was told to drink cranberry juice! While I was having pain in my lower back, I also had so much built up pressure in my head, my throat was killing me and I felt like just kieling over! After not feeling any better, I went to my doctore the next day and was told that I had a mixture of strep throat/bronchitis and the beginning of pharyngitis! Talk about a big difference!

While i hate to see a medical facility closing i am hopefull that if Portland should open an emergancy service we will finally get qualified care. I have only been to the emergancy room in Portland 3 times. All 3 times they almost killed me, literally. My care was so dangerous that my family care physician said to me after my last visit "Do not go there again. They are going to kill you one of these times." I have been directed to go to Sumner Regional for any emergancy medical treatment i may need. While the idea of a hospital in Portland closing is sad I dont know that it is necessarily such a bad thing.

It is truly a shame for the hospital to have to close down. I had hoped to see it grow and become better, not the opposite. Seems like all of Portland is going backwards and everyone around us is going forward. What is Portland's problem....it is a nice enough town, what is being done or not done to hamper our growth? On another note, I would like to see sidewalks put around the city. I know there are several handicapped people that cannot drive and have to rely on running short errands, i.e. pharmacy, groceries, dr appts, etc. using their hover-rounds. It is also a shame that they have no sidewalks to utilize and have to risk the danger of being on the street. Not everyone, especially people on disability, can afford cabs, cars, etc. Sometimes, it also helps their dignity not to have to call on someone else to take them someplace...if they can do short errands on their own, they usually want to. I'd like to see the city look into putting lots of sidewalks, not only for the disabled, but any citizen that would like to walk to town and for our kids. Still sad about losing the hospital!

I actually heard that White House is building a Hospital.

Yet again, White House has it together and Portland is falling apart.

The hospital located here has also been an asset in recruting new industry. If a company was looking for a new place to locate and looked at Portland due to its location, cost of land, workforce, etc. it all looks good. Then as they move down the checklist and come to medical facilities, and see no medical facility, well those jobs will go elsewhere. Just an observation.

We have belonged to Air Evac since moving up here. It's very inexpensive and immensely important. Look into it, you may decide to become a member too!

This is not good news for Portland residents, although my dr's are all in Gallatin I've never been to Portland Hospital, however it is good to know if needed there is/was a hospital close by. Maybe Sumner Regional can get connected at the Portland HCA Hospital, I thought they were going to do a minor emer clinic right across the street. Food for thought.

Lee - I think the Franklin Hospital is not far from wal-mart. Problem with that is being in TN some insurances don't have dr's or hospitals in KY on their approved providers list. I chose to have my MD's in Gallatin because none of the dr's here locally do rounds or have associates that do rounds at the Gallatin Hospital, and few here that I know of do hospital rounds period. I like knowing if I am hospitalized my dr or an associate will be following my care at the Hospital.

This is really sad. One of the reasons we picked Portland was for the hospital. I live on the north side of town. Can someone tell me where the ER is in Franklin? I want to be able to drive there should my Wife or Daughter need medical attention. Will The Sumner County Ambulance cross the state line?

I can understand losing the physical therapy and the patient wings on account of the economy. But the Emergency Room?

You'll remember that the ambulance services recently announced an increase in their trip rates. Plus they charge a fortune per mile. Imagine what our ambulance bills will cost now to have to be ambulanced to SRMC or Hendersonville Medical Center.

This is 2 giant steps backwards for Portland.

HCA/Tristar owns Cenntenial Hospital and the one in Ashland City. They closed the hospital in Ashland City a few years ago but kept the ER open to stabilize patients if necessary before going on to Nashville. There are not any over night stays, all outpatient. We as a community and the city gov't need to step in and at least keep the ER open as it serves so many in this town and neighboring area, ie Orlinda, Oak Grove, Westmoreland, Franklin, KY and the rural areas, as it has my wife, kids, and me at some point in our life. Thousands have benefitted from the hosptial here even when it was Highland Hospital.

I can't believe they are doing this ! This will most surely have a very bad effect on our community --- it will cost lives in some cases, I am sure when time getting to an ER is of the essence, but apparently the bottom line is ....the dollar. Was a reason given for the closing ? Is it really because they weren't making enough money from the hospital ?

From my understanding, the hospital will close in mid to late Jan and all employees will be moved. The building will remain an out patient imaging facility. I am not sure if the doctor offices there, like the childrens clinic will get to stay. This is a sad day for Portland. The Sumner County Ambulance that serves our city is one of the busiest in the county. Think how that will effect their service by having to transport out of the city EVERY TIME. I dont believe this is something that has been completely thought thru and how many it will effect.

I can see it now. Someone has a heart attack or a child gets badly hurt. They will be rushing down the ridge trying to get to Sumner Regional and have a wreck.

I can hardly believe that they would choose to close the ER. This means the town will not have 24 hour care and the citizens of Portland will suffer because of it.

You are unfortunately correct. As I understand, HCA is closing all but the doctor's offices, the lab and the X-ray office. The emergency room, physical therapy, patient wings are gone. We will hear more I'm sure in the next few days.