Cole and Jamniczky appointed to Perry County Memorial Hospital board

Randy Cole and Pam Jamniczky have been appointed to the Perry County Memorial Hospital board, giving Perry County two new members on the body that helps steer the county-owned hospital’s finances, services and leadership.

PCMH says its board of trustees is appointed to oversee the hospital’s activities and serve Perry County’s patients and greater community. That role carries real weight at a 25-bed acute care facility that has an emergency department, a surgery center and a full range of outpatient services in Tell City, along with four off-campus clinics in surrounding communities.

The appointments come as PCMH continues to operate under a local governance structure that has already been tested by major changes. The hospital announced an affiliation with Deaconess Health System effective Jan. 1, 2023, while saying it would remain county-owned and continue to be governed by the local board. Two years earlier, PCMH entered into a management services agreement with Ascension St. Vincent Evansville, another sign that the board has been working through outside partnerships while keeping the hospital rooted in Perry County.

Leadership at the hospital has also shifted recently. PCMH says Jared Stimpson became president and CEO on May 15, 2023. The hospital’s website says its administration has experience focused on healthcare and the needs of the hospital, a reminder that board appointments are not symbolic. They shape who is asking questions about staffing, budgeting, service expansion and how the hospital handles its relationship with larger regional systems.

That matters in a county where the hospital has been a central part of the safety net since 1950. PCMH traces its origins to 1945, when a meeting was called to convert the Perry County Infirmary into a hospital. The hospital also says it has expanded services in recent years, including a 2024 partnership with Owensboro Health to broaden general surgery care.

With Cole and Jamniczky now on the board, the next pressure points will be the same ones residents always end up watching closely: whether the hospital keeps emergency and outpatient services steady, how it manages outside affiliations, and how it protects a county-owned institution that remains one of Perry County’s most important public assets.