The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners will conduct a special meeting Monday to discuss how the closing of Vidant Pungo Hospital could affect Belhaven and surrounding areas.

The meeting, announced Thursday, begins at 4 p.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room (Room 111) at the county administrative office, 121 W. Third St., Washington. Although the public may attend, the meeting will not include a public-comment period.

The announcement about the called meeting came two days after at least 300 hundred people attended a forum concerning the closure of the hospital. That forum was held Tuesday night at the Wilkinson Center in Belhaven.

Commissioner Al Klemm, who spoke at the forum as a private citizen, weighed in on why he, as a commissioners, is closely following the Belhaven hospital matter.

“The hospital is of such a major importance to the citizens of Belhaven. The need for having adequate and good medical care in that area and the area of Hyde County is very important. At the forum Tuesday night was the first time I really got information concerning what was going to happen and what was going on. The information that was communicated by Dr. (David) Herman, through the question-and-answer period made me feel somewhat more comfortable about the situation than before I want to the meeting,” Klemm said

Earlier this month, the Vidant Community Hospitals board decided to close the hospital and replace it with a multispecialty clinic that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plans call for a phased closing of the hospital during the next five or six months.

As services at the hospital are shut down, they will be offered at area Vidant Medical Group physician’s offices. Those services include specialty clinics, 24-hour-a-day care, laboratories, radiology and physical therapy.

Vidant Health expects to break ground on the new multispecialty clinic later this year. The new facility is expected to take about 18 months to complete.