Martin General Hospital, closed for nearly two years, will reopen as North Carolina’s first Rural Emergency Hospital (REH), a new federal model focusing on emergency and outpatient care, not inpatient services. ECU Health aims to manage the facility, pending approval from the Martin County Board of Commissioners. The REH status provides stable federal funding and aims to address healthcare gaps in rural Eastern North Carolina, despite limiting inpatient services like surgeries. State initiatives have funded renovations, though the aging building limits space. The project faces challenges from potential Medicaid cuts, but community and institutional support remains strong, hoping to restore essential local healthcare access.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press May 27, 2025
Martin General Hospital has stood abandoned in Williamston for almost two years, leaving Martin County residents with limited access to local health care. But the hospital is now slated to reopen as a new type of hospital for North Carolina: a Rural Emergency Hospital.
This new designation could be a game changer for other struggling hospitals across the state.
ECU Health will likely manage this new incarnation of Martin General, though that depends on the outcome of a June 4 public hearing before the Martin County Board of Commissioners.
The reopening of Martin General would bring back essential services in a health care desert creeping across Eastern North Carolina.
“Eastern North Carolina is a place with lots of inequities and lots of gaps in health care services,” said Deeonna Farr, assistant professor at the ECU College of Health.
“Reopening this facility, in an area without coverage, is huge.”
Rural Emergency Hospitals, though, are not full-service hospitals. They treat only emergency or outpatient cases.
They are not designed to provide inpatient services that would require overnight stays — think hip replacements, C-sections or appendectomies. For that kind of care, Martin County residents would still need to travel 30 minutes to the nearest full-service hospital, ECU Health Beaufort in “Little” Washington.
ECU’s proposal requires a significant state investment to expand inpatient capacity at ECU Health Beaufort, which is likely where any inpatient cases in Martin County would be transferred.
Rural Emergency Hospitals, or REHs, are a relatively new designation that the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare introduced in 2021. They’re a tool to save struggling, or recently shuttered, hospitals.
CMS doles out $3 million to each REH each year in order to keep their doors open. They also receive higher reimbursement rates for each patient visit.
“CEOs of REHs have an immense amount of pressure off their shoulders,” said George Pink, deputy director of the UNC Rural Health Research Program.
“Instead of putting out fires all the time, constantly asking, ‘How are we going to make that payroll in two weeks? Where are we going to get the money to pay that bill?,’ they get to plan ahead and rely on a predictable cash flow.”
Across the country but mostly in the South, 38 hospitals have converted to REHs since January 2023.
This would be North Carolina’s first.
The Martin County commissioners petitioned the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to work with the the state’s General Assembly to change the state’s Hospital Licensure Act to allow REHs.
It’s now an option available to any struggling hospital in the state.
In addition, a new state initiative called NC Cares, dedicated to preserving and expanding rural health care, allocated $35 million to aid in the reopening of the hospital.
“The Rural Emergency Hospital can offer everything Martin General did, and frankly more — with the exception of inpatient services,” said Dawn Carter, a member of the Rural Healthcare Initiative and health care consultant for Martin County.
Martin County lacks a sufficient population base to support inpatient services, Carter explained. The county is home to 22,000 people. Attracting physicians to the area has become increasingly difficult.
According to Carter, only 20% of Martin County residents actually sought inpatient care at Martin General to begin with. That contributed to the hospital’s deep financial problems.
Carter is delighted at the prospect of services returning to Martin County. So, too, the Martin County Health Department.
“Such a facility would be a substantial step forward and could one day lay the foundation for the return of a fully operational hospital,” said Nicole Barnes, health director of the Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department.
Martin Community College is celebrating as well. Having immediate access to health care would be a boon for staff and students who practice accident-prone trades like welding, electrical and HVAC. Plus, the school’s medical professions students are currently all sent to other counties for training. Going forward, they’ll have a local option.
But there’s one problem: the hospital building itself.
Due to the age and condition of the building, the new REH will be relegated to a corner of the old hospital building.
Luckily, Carter said, the wing of the hospital dedicated to emergency, outpatient and imaging services was the newer section. But it won’t be new forever.
“The building requirements for health care facilities get more stringent every year,” Carter said. “For us to use the entire building would require extensive renovations at exorbitant costs — firewalls, air conditioning, electrical systems. So there is going to be a space issue.”
For this reason, Carter doesn’t see the old Martin General Hospital building as the permanent home of Martin County’s REH.
“The commissioners have understood from the get go that there’s only so long we will continue to operate in that building,” she said. “We’re anticipating building a new one at some point.”
Another concern? Cuts to Medicaid in Washington.
House Republicans propose to cut $625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade. In rural places such as Martin County, hospitals depend on Medicaid reimbursements to stay open. In Martin County, 20% of residents live below the poverty line.
But because it took congressional action to establish the REH program, it is unlikely that President Donald Trump could successfully terminate the Biden-era program.
For now, ECU Health is gung-ho about the project.
“ECU Health is steadfast in its mission to improve the health and well-being of Eastern North Carolina,” wrote ECU Health spokesperson Brian Wudkwych.
“We submitted a non-binding proposal for consideration to the Martin County Board of Commissioners which outlines our desire to establish the state’s first Rural Emergency Hospital and create an integrated, high-acuity outpatient delivery model that meets the health care needs of Martin County.
“We look forward to the opportunity to present our proposal at the June 4 Martin County Board of Commissioners public hearing.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
The article presents a generally supportive tone toward expanding rural healthcare access, emphasizing the benefits of reopening Martin General Hospital as a Rural Emergency Hospital and highlighting the challenges faced by underserved communities in Eastern North Carolina. It draws attention to social inequities, poverty, and the importance of Medicaid funding, which aligns more closely with progressive or center-left concerns about healthcare accessibility and social welfare. While it presents factual information and includes perspectives from various stakeholders, the framing favors increased government and institutional involvement in healthcare, indicating a center-left leaning perspective without strong partisan rhetoric.
SUMMARY: A federal judge blocked President Trump’s use of emergency powers to impose broad global tariffs, prompting the administration to seek a delay and vow to appeal. The ruling stemmed from lawsuits by states and businesses challenging Trump’s declared emergency as fabricated. The decision boosted financial markets but injected uncertainty into economic forecasts. Trump delayed tariffs on the European Union after they agreed to talks, defending his policy as vital to restoring American jobs and correcting trade imbalances. Some companies, like Macy’s, plan selective price increases due to tariffs. Steel, aluminum, and auto tariffs remain unaffected, being imposed under separate laws.
The court said Trump doesn’t have the power to unilaterally impose some tariffs.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-29 07:46:00
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warns that repealing the $891 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 could cost the state tens of thousands of jobs by 2030. Highlighting North Carolina’s leadership in clean energy with over 20,000 jobs and $24 billion in investments, Stein urges Congress to protect these tax credits that bolster clean energy growth. The Tax Foundation critiques the Act’s costliness, while Rep. Mike Johnson calls for reforms. New clean energy projects, like Boviet Solar’s $294 million factory in Greenville expected to create 900 jobs, exemplify the sector’s growth. Repeal could also raise electricity costs by $200 annually for families.
(The Center Square) – Repeal of the $891 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 could cost North Carolina “tens of thousands of jobs by 2030,” Gov. Josh Stein says.
The first-term Democrat took advantage Wednesday of the annual Emerging Issues Forum at N.C. State University in Raleigh to champion the state’s energy sector.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein
Governor.NC.gov
“North Carolina is a leader in the clean energy economy, and we are home to more than 20,000 clean energy jobs and $24 billion in clean energy investments,” Stein said. “Our state is well-positioned to continue that success, and I urge Congress to protect the clean energy investments that have contributed to our state’s prosperity.”
The Tax Foundation, a leading nonpartisan nonprofit with mission to examine tax policies leading to greater economic growth, says the tax breaks of the Inflation Reduction Act have proven more expensive than originally forecast. U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., speaker of the House of Representatives, says the reform is “somewhere between a scalpel and a sledgehammer.”
Transcribed, it’s elimination of policies not working and tweaks to those that do work, the Tax Foundation says.
Greenville is the latest new home for the clean energy industry. Boviet Solar celebrated a grand opening of the first phase of its factory there in April enabling annual photovoltaic module output capacity of 2 gigawatts. The second phase is expected to be in operation next year.
The facility is valued at $294 million. State and local incentives over a dozen years are $34.6 million for the Vietnamese solar company. The projection is for the entire project to yield 900 new jobs.
Stein said repeal of the Biden administration act would also cost “billions in clean energy investments spurred by clean energy and manufacturing tax credits.” His office says families in the state would likely have an annual increase of $200 to their electricity costs.
He’s hopeful the congressional delegation of 10 Republicans and four Democrats will retain the clean energy tax credits.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article offers a straightforward report on the differing perspectives regarding the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its impact on North Carolina, primarily featuring statements from a Democratic governor advocating for the continuation of clean energy tax credits, alongside references to analyses from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation and a Republican congressional leader expressing a more cautious view of the legislation. The language remains factual and neutral without endorsing either position, presenting both the economic benefits claimed by supporters and the concerns highlighted by critics. This balanced presentation, with no evident framing favoring one ideological position, aligns with neutral, factual reporting rather than advancing a particular political bias.
SUMMARY: Four years after Chapel Hill’s Northside community challenged unfair property tax valuations, new data reveal persistent inequities across Orange County’s historically Black neighborhoods. The Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition highlights “vertical regressivity,” where larger, newer homes are undervalued while older, smaller Black-owned homes are overvalued, leading to disproportionate tax burdens. Activists and experts, including Hudson Vaughan, report a projected \$2 million tax increase on these neighborhoods, despite revenue-neutral tax rates. County officials acknowledge appeals but find no widespread issues yet. Community leaders call this “extinction-level gentrification” and urge adjustments to ensure fair assessments and protect historically Black communities.
