Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

At the Stephens County Commissioners meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, Tom Echols, president of the Stephens Memorial Hospital District board, spoke about the rising costs the Senior Meals program is facing.

Since the City of Breckenridge shut down the Senior Citizens Center in 2020, the hospital has provided free meals to elderly homebound residents in the community, taking on the service once provided by the center. The City of Breckenridge and Stephens County contribute to the cost of the meals each year; additionally, the hospital receives funds from the local Meals on Wheels program.

There are two different programs — Senior Meals and Meals on Wheels — both prepared and delivered by the hospital and/or volunteers. The meals provided through the hospital’s Senior Meals program are delivered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, meals are delivered through the Meals on Wheels program. However, all of the meals – for both the Senior Meals program and the local Meals on Wheels program – are prepared by the hospital’s dietary department.

Echols said there are approximately 70 Senior Meals delivered each day (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and about 64 Meals on Wheels meals delivered on each Tuesday and Thursday. While the Meals on Wheels number has dropped slightly since 2020, the number of Senior Meals has doubled in the past six years, from 35 to 70.

The Senior Meals and Meals on Wheels programs average 1,465 meals per month, almost 50 percent more than the meals needed for the hospital’s basic operations. Each month, the hospital prepares an average of 983 meals for regular hospital business, including meals for patients, employees and, once a month, the board members at their meetings.

Echols said the number of Senior Meals delivered increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not reduced since then.

SMH spends more than $223,000 per year providing the Senior Meals and Meals on Wheels meals. The hospital’s costs include $96,187 for food and supplies, such as the containers the meals are delivered in, and $127,109 for the three full-time employees who run the program, Echols said.

Annually, the hospital receives subsidies from Stephens County ($25,000) and the City of Breckenridge ($14,000); plus, Meals on Wheels reimburses the hospital $33,435 each year.

That leaves the hospital paying $150,861 out of its budget for the meals, Echols said.

“We need to ante up,” he told the county commissioners. “… we cannot continue this program three times a week to (Senior Meals), and twice a week to Meals on Wheels.”

Additionally, the number of volunteers who deliver the meals has dwindled over the years and often hospital employees often volunteer to take the meals to the seniors. Expenses incurred during delivery are not included in the hospital’s expenses, Echols said.

If they cannot get some more help with the expenses of providing the meals, the hospital is considering reducing the number of meals they provide each week or reducing the number of people receiving the meals by requiring them to apply for the service and only providing the free meals to those who need them. Additionally, having the recipients qualify for the meals might offer the hospital more options for grants and other funding.

“We don’t want to cut anybody out … because it’s a vital service to the community, but, you know, $151,000 … that’s a little much,” Echols said.

The amount of money that the local Meals on Wheels program provides to the hospital has increased by a little more than $4,000 since 2020, but the City and County contributions have remained the same.

After answering a few questions from the commissioners, Echols said he would get them more detailed financial reports, so that they can consider increasing the amount of money the County provides for the meal services.

Several Stephens Memorial Hospital staff members attended Monday’s county commissioners meeting for a proclamation declaring Nov. 19 as National Rural Health Day in Stephens County. Pictured, from left, are Commissioner David Fambro; Nesha Cooper, LVN at SMH; Ashley Woodrum, SMH Chief Quality Officer; Kraymer Harbold, SMH Safety & Emergency Management Coordinator; Holly Edgar, SMH Emergency Department Director; Beatrice Duncan, SMH Chief Nursing Officer; Stephens County Judge Will Thompson; Van Moore, SMH Marketing Director; and Commissioners Tanner Wade and Mark McCullough. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

National Rural Health Day

On another hospital-related topic, Stephens County Judge Will Thompson issued a proclamation naming Nov. 19, 2026, as National Rural Health Day in Stephens County.

Van Moore, community liaison/marketing director for Stephens Memorial Hospital, talks to the Stephens County Commissioners about the upcoming National Rural Health Day, Nov. 19. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Thompson’s proclamation made several points, including:

• The health and well-being of citizens are of the utmost importance to the county and state, but rural communities often experience barriers such as limited access to healthcare services, shortages of healthcare providers, transportation challenges, and an aging population with higher rates of chronic conditions and a greater proportion of uninsured and underinsured citizens
• Rural communities are resilient, resourceful, and innovative, meeting challenges with creativity and collaboration; and, rural America offers meaningful opportunities for dedicated health professionals to deliver high-quality, personalized care and essential health services.

“Therefore, I, the Honorable Will Thompson, County Judge of Stevens County, Texas, do hereby proclaim November 19, 2026, as National Rural Health Day in our county, and encourage all citizens to join me in celebrating the power of rural, and recognizing the vital contributions of healthcare providers, organizations, and advocates serving in rural America. Further, I urge individuals, organizations, businesses, and community leaders to support initiatives aimed at expanding access to care and strengthening rural healthcare systems,” he said.

Van Moore, SMH’s community liaison/marketing director, said National Rural Health Day is the third Thursday in November, something the local hospital celebrates each year. However, this year the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH) has chosen Stephens Memorial to be the site for a community project. On Nov. 19, TORCH is going to help the local hospital do some fix-up on the inside and outside of the building, including pressure-washing the outside of the building, painting, and reworking some of the flower beds, etc.

Other business

Also in the Nov. 9 meeting, the county commissioners:

• Agreed to participate in a new national opioid settlement with Albertsons
• Approved a memorandum for the county attorney’s continuing education travel allowance
• Tabled an agenda item regarding a proposed Buckaroo Radio Network sponsorship with KLXK Radio until Thompson can talk to someone at the radio station and another item about moving the county animal services with Ashly Miles.

Cutline, top photo: On Monday, Nov. 9, Tom Echols, president of the Stephens Memorial Hospital District board, spoke to the Stephens County Commissioners about the rising costs the Senior Meals program is facing. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)