Mayor walks 273 miles to D.C. to protest hospital closure

A North Carolina mayor fighting to keep his community hospital open completed a 273-mile protest march from Belhaven, N.C., to Washington, D.C., on July 28. Mayor Adam O'Neal began the walk from his hometown July 14 to send a message to members of Congress: Medicaid expansion in the states is important to rural hospitals and the communities they serve. In the nation's capital, they were joined at a rally by supporters, including many from the AFT and other unions.

Belhaven's Vidant Pungo Hospital closed its doors July 1, in part because members of the North Carolina Legislature refused federal funds to expand Medicaid in the state. O'Neal said the hospital's pursuit of profits over the health of the community also played a role in its closure.

Vidant Health is a nonprofit. "It's supposed to have a mission of good," he said. "It made more than $100 million in profits last year, but it saw fit to close our critical access hospital because it was not as profitable. That's wrong, and it has to stop."

O'Neal, who is a Republican, teamed up with the Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP and founder of Moral Mondays, to save the hospital. The men were joined by hundreds of community members from Belhaven who traveled to Washington to support the mayor as well as the large local labor contingent.

"We need to keep the hospital open; it's a community hospital," said Ann Potter. She and her twin brother were born at the hospital 65 years ago. Now that Vidant Pungo is closed, the nearest hospital for Belhaven residents is 18 miles away, she added. "We have a lot people who depend on that hospital."

O'Neal called on congressional leaders to provide support for rural hospitals (many of which serve poor and disadvantaged populations) by expanding Medicaid.

"We know we are not alone," said O'Neal. "Large health systems are acquiring small community hospitals all across America. We need to work together to maintain health services. We need time, and we need help."

Twenty-six states have rejected funds for Medicaid expansion, and more than 5 million people in those states lack insurance. The refusal of Medicaid funding hurts the poor and children who need access to healthcare, Barber told the crowd.

"We are here to dramatize the shameful condition. … This is just a small picture of a larger crisis. We are here to expose what happens when states don't expand Medicaid; people die. It is wrong for states to deny billions in Medicaid funding that could help hospitals and the poor," said Barber." This is not about party, it's about principle." [Adrienne Coles/Photos: Michael Campbell]

July 29, 2014