Walk to save rural hospitals concludes at the Capitol

Belhaven, N.C., Mayor Adam O'Neal hit the road again for the second summer in a row—walking from his hometown of Belhaven to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness of the plight of rural hospitals across the country.

Last year, O'Neal walked from Belhaven to the nation's capital to protest the closure of his local facility, Vidant Pungo Hospital. This year, O'Neal and a group of activists from across the country walked 283 miles, a figure symbolizing the number of rural hospitals that face closure in the United States this year due to financial pressure. The walk to "Save Our Rural Hospitals" began June 1 in Belhaven and ended June 15 on the lawn behind the United States Capitol.

By mid-morning, hundreds of people had crowded onto the Capitol lawn, where O'Neal stood with civil rights activist Bob Zellner, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and others to raise their voices in support of rural healthcare.

Millions of Americans live in rural areas, and the federal government has to find a way to keep their hospitals open and accessible to the public, said O'Neal. "Saving rural hospitals is something our legislators cannot not do," he said. "This is an issue that we all should be rallying around."

According to the National Rural Health Association, 62 million Americans rely on rural healthcare. Without congressional intervention, 700,000 patients will lose direct access to care; communities and local economies will suffer. Small towns across the country face the possibility of hospital layoffs, reduced wages, economic loss, reduced service or closed hospital doors.

O'Neal, a Republican, acknowledges that the loss of his hometown hospital is due in part to the Republican-led North Carolina Legislature, which has refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. "I can't figure out why they have not accepted the money," he said. But O'Neal also pointed the finger at the corporatization of healthcare that has been taking place all over the country. To make more money, he said, "big conglomerates like Vidant Health are killing small hospitals and forcing patients to travel miles from home to their facilities … and that greed is causing needless deaths."

"Hospitals are the crown jewel of a community, so when we see decisions leading to the decimation of healthcare in rural America, we are going to stand with you and will fight to defend quality care," Weingarten said. "This isn't just a rural problem—it's everyone's problem. We must stop putting profits ahead of people and focus on how we can help people in urban and rural areas."

The Rev. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, told the crowd it was time for a moral healing in America. "Anytime you have politicians in Congress and lawmakers in the states who get free healthcare, and they want to block access to care for the public, we need a healing," he said. "I couldn't make the walk, but I stand with you because this is a moral issue and a human rights issue. We have to keep on working on this healing until every American has access to healthcare."

"We end this walk today, but we will continue this journey and continue to stand up and educate, agitate and organize until we have healthcare for all," said Justin Jones, a college student from Nashville, Tenn., who walked the entire 283 miles with O'Neal and the others.

The rally ended with participants singing "This Little Light of Mine." The song was led by Peter Yarrow of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.

[Adrienne Coles/photos by Michael Campbell]