- Because of the main highways, you can't walk.
- [Narrator] Former Belhaven Mayor Adam O'Neal fought hard to keep the hospital in his community.
- Well, I've got a bunch of stories about that.
- [Narrator] He even led two marches to Washington D.C. to protest the hospital closure.
- So I thought if enough people saw what was happening here and saw the documents and saw what was happening that somebody would help us.
That was my belief at that time.
So this is the original hospital.
- [Narrator] But in 2014, Vidant Pungo Hospital closed its doors.
The hospital closure affected not just those in Belhaven but also those who live in surrounding communities.
- Between Washington, North Carolina, and Nags Head, North Carolina is 130 miles, so there's a 130 mile gap without an emergency room in East North Carolina.
That would be almost like no hospital between Raleigh and Wilmington, you see?
So it's a big deal.
- [Narrator] O'Neal says the hospital closure also put more than 100 people out of work and is costing the community about $17 million of economic impact a year.
- And when you're talking about a town of 1600 people, when you take $17 million of economics out of the community of money flow, it's devastating.
- [Narrator] Vidant Health says they closed the hospital in part because of the condition of the facility, it's location in a flood zone, and it was losing money.
The closure is part of a nationwide trend of rural hospitals shutting down mainly because they lose money delivering services to patients.
- It's sad to think the people that helped build this community, helped build this county, helped build this, you know, this area are the ones that are having to suffer now because of the lack of healthcare.
- [Narrator] Bill Booth was one of the community leaders at the front of the fight to save the hospital in Belhaven.
He says those in rural communities already face numerous health disparities and the closure of rural hospitals make those residents even more vulnerable.
Because of that, like we said back then people have died, and they're still dying.
There's us walking... -[Narrator] For O'Neal, he wants to continue to shed light on the trend of rural hospitals closing, and highlight the cost on communities and those who live there.
'Cause the silent costs of these rural hospitals closing is that people are sicker.
Because they don't get attention to a stroke in time.
They don't get attention to a heart attack in time.
So the cost of not having these rural hospitals is extreme.