Republican Mayor Crosses into Virginia, 85 Miles into 273 Mile Walk to DC to Save Rural Hospital | Eastern North Carolina Now

    For Immediate Release:

Expected to Enter Cross State Lines Today, Emerges as National Voice for Medicaid Expansion

    (Murfreesboro, NC)     Adam O'Neal, the Republican Mayor of Belhaven, NC, arrived in Murfreesboro, NC last night, capping off the first week of a 14-day, 273-mile walk to the nation's capital. Mayor O'Neal is using his journey through rural areas of Eastern North Carolina, Virginia, and into Washington, DC, to draw attention to the needs of quickly-vanishing rural critical care hospitals in the age of massive healthcare reform.

    "I say 'we' a lot because after nearly ninety miles of walking and meeting hundreds of people, it's clear to me that others share my concerns about the abandonment of rural hospitals that can end up costing lives," said Mayor O'Neal. "We're doing this walk because we want to bring attention to our situation. We had a health-care conglomerate come to our town, promise to maintain its 24 hour hospital, and then closed it. What they left behind was lower-quality healthcare, fewer jobs, and a bunch of excuses."

    When Vidant Health, Inc. purchased, and announced the closure of Pungo District Hospital, Mayor Adam O'Neal emerged as a fiery advocate for the hospital, and the 23K people who depend on it. Thousands in his region must now travel as many as 84 miles to receive critical care. O'Neal is traveling to Washington, DC because he and others believe the hospital was closed on July 1, 2014 in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

    Once there, he will ask for President Obama and the Justice Department's help with a healthcare crisis that has already caused loss of life, and threatened the well-being of thousands in his rural community. He carries with him the story Portia Gibbs, 48. In early July she became the first person since the hospital's closing to die for lack of emergency care. Mrs. Gibbs died after suffering a diabetic occurrence that triggered a heart attack. Vidant Pungo Hospital was little more than 40 miles from the Gibbs' home, but after its closure the next closest hospital is 84 miles away. Emergency medical personnel decided to wait for a helicopter rather than risk the drive—but the helicopter took more than an hour to arrive, and by then she had died.

    "You can't let rural hospitals close across the country," O'Neal said. "People die and communities will suffer. We believe the hospital's closing violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which bans discrimination by agencies that receive federal funds."

    Background:

    •  Local Reporting
    •  Video about the family of Portia Gibbs who died on July 5
    •  Video re. Mayor's plan for hospital reopening
    •  Video Documents Mayor's opposition, bordering on violence
    •  Mayor O'Neal & Rev. Barber on All In with Chris Hayes
    •  Schedule & media availability updates at SaveOurHospital.org/walk

    Route to include:

    •  Plymouth, NC (7/15)
    •  Ahoskie, NC/Murfreesboro, NC (7/16)
    •  Yale, VA (7/18)
    •  Petersburg, VA (7/21)
    •  Richmond, VA (7/22)
    •  Ashland, VA (7/23)
    •  Fredericksburg, VA (7/25)
    •  Woodbridge, VA (7/26)
    •  Alexandria, VA (7/27)
    •  Washington, DC (7/28)


    Contact: Don Owens

      (202) 302-5928  •  don.owenspr@yahoo.com  •  mobile: (202) 302-5928

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