MARTIN COUNTY, NC — Last August, Martin General Hospital closed, shocking and frustrating many. Now, a year later, the doors are still closed.
Martin County has been without its only hospital for 376 days. Local officials tell us there may be a solution.
Ben Eisner, who has already served as district attorney, took over as interim district manager just two months after Martin General Hospital closed. Since then, he says he has been working to restore accessible health care to the area.
“We tried to figure out what the building could be used for or what use would be approved by some regulatory agencies. That took a while and we finally settled on a rural emergency hospital,” says interim county manager Ben Eisner.
To counteract the closure of rural hospitals, rural emergency hospitals were enshrined in law in 2020. According to Eisner, they operate as emergency care facilities without inpatient care.
Longtime Martin County resident Freeman James says it would be a step in the right direction.
“It would be better to know that you can go somewhere and see what’s going on without having to travel so far,” says Freeman James.
Over the past year, Freeman and his family have had to visit various hospitals in Eastern Carolina, and he says he worries about what might happen in an emergency.
“It used to be closer than driving all the way to Washington or Greenville, but we always come to Martin General in Williamston,“, says James.
Eisner says the process has been grueling and will only get more difficult from now on.
“We understand that the transition from a closed hospital to an open hospital would be the first of its kind in the country, and that is why we have tried to manage that,” says Eisner.
The next step is currently to put the building out for public bidding, Eisner tells News 12, in the hopes that a healthcare provider can reopen the doors.
