Shelby County always seems to be growing with new businesses and job opportunities appearing every day, but there are more needs than new shopping centers, restaurants and industrial expansion.

People of every social and economic status need good medical care. Shelby Baptist Medical Center and others are showing that this concern is not being forgotten in Shelby County.

Shelby Baptist Medical Center recently broke ground for an $85 million hospital expansion that will allow the hospital to replace its semi-private rooms with private rooms to allow for better patient care.

There is also a separate effort underway to bring a free health clinic to the county to serve uninsured residents

between the ages of 19 and 64.

Both efforts by the hospital and the Shelby County Free Health Clinic Task Force are commendable.

Despite the prosperous image Shelby County evokes, there will always be the haves and the have-nots and both groups have needs that must be met.

Shelby Baptist is growing with the community providing an updated emergency department, cardiology suite, a women&8217;s center, and working to make patients and their families more comfortable.

Again, others are seeking to help those without health insurance by working to create a clinic staffed solely by volunteers.

According to the California Health Care Foundation, in 2005, there were nearly 47 million Americans uninsured, while the United States spent more on health care that other industrialized nations.

We are proud to see all of this attention being paid to the residents of Shelby County from all walks of life.