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During a recent mandatory public hearing at the Martin County Board of Commissioners meeting, a standing room only crowd listened intently as ECU Health CEO and Dean of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Dr. Michael Waldrum, presented in more detail the vision to re-establish essential health care services for Martin County and to take questions from the audience. ECU Health was selected following a request for proposals from Martin County on February 13, 2025, to reestablish essential health care services, after Martin General Hospital closed in the middle of 2023, when Williamston Hospital Corporation, which managed the facility, filed for bankruptcy.

The proposal would create the state’s first Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) in Martin County, initially to be located at the former Martin General Hospital. As part of that proposal, ECU Health is committed to advocating for a $70 million investment from the State of North Carolina to build a new Rural Care Center in Martin County that would serve as the future home of the REH, with the potential to expand outpatient services, including preventative care.

“Solving the rural health challenge means pursuing transformative solutions that create sustainable health care access,” said Dr. Waldrum. “ECU Health’s expertise is rural health care, and our proposal reflects our unwavering commitment to our mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina. In my conversations with State leaders, it is clear there is a shared desire to support rural communities like Martin County. The State investments we’re seeking are critical to support the development of a regional system of care, which is central to creating sustainability in and around Martin County.”

REH is a new Medicare designation designed to sustain essential health care services in communities that may otherwise be unable to support a traditional hospital. REHs offer emergency room care, observation services, and other outpatient health services. These services are limited to short-term care, with patients staying an average of less than 24 hours. And because REHs cannot provide inpatient services except in very limited situations, ECU Health is also advocating for $150 million to expand inpatient capacity at ECU Health Beaufort Hospital, a campus of ECU Health Medical Center. ECU Health Beaufort Hospital is a Hill-Burton Act hospital built in 1958. Very little hospital construction took place during the Great Depression and World War II, so by the end of the war, there was a severe shortage of beds in the United States. The act provided federal grants to states for the construction of new community hospitals. The expansion request, as highlighted by ECU Health, shows the importance of investing in modernizing the facility to support the regional system of care.

ECU Health is working closely with Martin County with the goal of entering into a non-binding letter of intent by July 30.