Board reappoints members to Pungo Medical

Published 5:24 pm Tuesday, October 10, 2017

BELHAVEN — The Belhaven Board of Aldermen voted to reappoint four members to the Pungo Medical Center board Monday night.

Julian Goff, Karen Bell, Eunice Williams and Scott Wilkinson, who all serve two-year terms, were reappointed to serve another two years. Alderman Ricky Credle did not vote, and Alderman Amos Wilson was absent.

The Pungo Medical Center board, which is a nonprofit established by the Town of Belhaven, has a total of seven members. Mayor Adam O’Neal, Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson and Archie Green all serve four-year terms.

Pungo Medical Center is technically a separate entity from the Town, but the Board of Aldermen is charged with appointing the nonprofit’s board members.

According to O’Neal, Pungo Medical Center is a body that meets once a month. Its original purpose was to support the reopening of a hospital in Belhaven, after Vidant Pungo Hospital closed its doors July 1, 2014. Formerly known as Pungo District Hospital, the facility had served the town and surrounding areas for roughly 70 years.

After the old hospital building on East Water Street was demolished in December 2016, Pungo Medical Center has since worked to secure funding to open a standalone emergency room or micro-hospital in the town.

O’Neal declined to give details of the plan, however, in an effort to avoid what he describes as undermining by parties against the Pungo Medical cause.