JACKSONVILLE — If well-wishes are any indication, William Adcock's tentative acquisition of some Lon Morris College property during the recent LMC auction might be the harbinger of several more affordable homes in the city.

Adcock, 64, who owns numerous (NUM-ER-OUS) properties throughout the city, believes he can help something good can come out of the LMC bankruptcy, which was declared in July, involved a recent auction, and will be concluded once a federal judge okays the purchases on Feb. 4.

Adcock was the third highest bidder to acquire Lon Morris property during the  LMC auction.

It was announced by press release Tuesday that Adcock had the winning bid on LMC's Cypress residential cottage, college security offices, chaplain's home, Morris Hassel Alumni & Student Center, Sycamore Cottage student housing, Elm Cottage student housing, and two rental properties.

In all, the bids totaled around $2.2 million, although the individual amounts are currently under seal until the conclusion of the bankruptcy proceedings.

Adcock was not able to reply to a reporter's request for an interview when the press release came out Tuesday, but called him back early Wednesday to discuss his plans.

First and foremost, Adcock said he wished Lon Morris could have stayed open and financially afloat and its loss is a huge blow to the city.

"It's really sad when something like this happens," Adcock said. "We have plenty of other properties we could buy, but we wanted to help out the college."

Adcock said he generally purchases his real estate to affiliate with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for owner financing and—  if owners can come up with it in this economy — affordable down payment.

"That's what we do," he said. "We try to put affordable houses back out there into society, instead of letting them become dilapidated crack houses. We have a specific plan for doing this."

Representatives of the  other two high bidders, Jack Webb of 11x17 and the Jacksonville ISD, have indicated they also hope that their purchases can be for the good of Jacksonville in light of the tragedy of the Lon Morris loss.

Time will tell.



Mother Frances  Hospital-Tyler among Top 5 percent in nation for fifth consecutive year



The Healthgrades Hospital Quality Report has bestowed the honor of "Distinguished Hospital Award For Clinical Excellence" for 2013 to Mother Frances Hospital-Jacksonville's sister facility in Tyler.

This means the Tyler hospital ranks among the top five percent of more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide for its clinical performance.

The evaluation was measured by Healthgrades, which bills itself as a leading provider of comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals.

Mother Frances Hospital- Tyler is one out of only 10 Hospitals in Texas to receive the Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence Award in 2013.

The Jacksonville facility, meanwhile, has mostly scores of "average" in the survey, except for the categories of "excessive bruising or bleeding as a consequence of a procedure or surgery" and "breakdown of abdominal incision site," in which it scored "worse than average."

All scores are available for public view on www.Healthgrades.com. To inquire about Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics, visit tmfhc.org.



Reporter Ben Tinsley covers the business beat and writes the column Business Confidential for the Jacksonville Daily Progress. Have a business tip? Call Ben Tinsley at 903-586-2236 or email him at btinsley@jacksonvilleprogress.com.