Vidant Pungo Hospital will close July 1
Published 5:41 pm Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Vidant Pungo Hospital will stop providing emergency and other hospital services July 1, according to hospital president Harvey Case.
In a letter to Beaufort County Emergency Management Director John Pack, Case confirmed the closure of the Belhaven hospital, which has been the subject of rescue efforts by town officials in recent months. Case asked Pack to “inform all emergency resources of this change and modify your operations accordingly.”
The hospital currently serves Belhaven and its surrounding areas as well as Hyde County’s mainland.
The town of Belhaven, which has been trying to find a solution to stop the hospital from closing, will have to beef up emergency services and personnel to make up for the loss of the hospital, according to town manager Guinn Leverett. The town had previously been offered a $2 million loan from the Beaufort County Commissioners and $1 million from Vidant to aid in the saving of the hospital.
Beaufort County Manager Randall Woodruff said commissioners tried to work with the town to help keep the hospital open, but the town failed to meet the requirements to get the funding.
“They haven’t been able to accomplish that at this point,” Woodruff said.
In a deal reached in mediation, the town of Belhaven had until July 1 to secure funding to buy the hospital to prevent its closure. Pantego Creek LLC, which is made up of investors from the old Pungo District Hospital, announced last week it would not agree to an extension of the deal.