Greenville, N.C. – Members of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means visited Beaufort and Pitt counties Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, to interact with the group, tour ECU Health Beaufort Hospital and ECU Health Medical Center, hear from group care leaders and focus on the challenges going through rural well being care in America. The committee go to consisted of Rep. Greg Murphy, Chairman Jason Smith, and Reps. Adrian Smith, Kevin Hern, and Claudia Tenney.

“Whether it’s in my home state of Missouri or eastern North Carolina, rural communities are facing a health care crisis,” Chairman Smith mentioned. “Today we heard from health care providers and local leaders about the struggles their communities face ranging from patients traveling long distances to receive emergency care to health facilities finding and keeping a quality health care workforce with the scarce resources available. On our current path, access to health care for a huge portion of America will continue to erode, putting the health of millions more rural Americans at risk. The Ways and Means Committee will take what we learned today from patients and doctors on the frontlines of this crisis and use it to inform the best way to expand access to health care in rural communities.”

Committee members and county leaders began the day by visiting Belhaven earlier than touring ECU Health Beaufort Hospital, inbuilt 1957 underneath the Hill-Burton Act that supplied federal funding to assist rural hospitals. There, committee members joined a roundtable dialog with ECU Health leaders and Beaufort County group leaders in regards to the significance of discovering collaborative options to the advanced rural well being care problem.

The day concluded with committee members visiting ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, a state-of-the-art tutorial facility that delivers high-level care to residents of japanese North Carolina. ECU Health Medical Center is the one Level I trauma heart east of Raleigh, showcasing ECU Health’s unique system of care that serves as a nationwide mannequin for offering high-quality rural well being care.

“Chairman Smith has been gracious enough to organize field hearings in the country this year on various issues,” mentioned Rep. Murphy. “I am glad to have him and other members of the Ways and Means Committee spend time in eastern North Carolina to look at rural health care. We had the opportunity to witness firsthand the efforts of clinicians striving for quality in medicine while ensuring access to care for all.”

Throughout the excursions, lawmakers walked by the emergency departments, intensive care models and labor and delivery models and engaged in conversations with clinicians concerning the challenges confronted by rural well being care, the growing old infrastructure and the difficulties related to sustaining important providers. Leaders mentioned the significance of preserving providers reminiscent of labor and supply models inside ECU Health, that are a lifeline for expectant moms, offering important entry to secure and expert maternity care, usually in areas the place different well being care choices are restricted. Maintaining models like these ensures that rural households do not need to endure the numerous burden of touring lengthy distances to entry essential providers.

“ECU Health has long advocated for solutions at the state and national level to combat the intensifying rural health care crisis facing America,” mentioned Dr. Michael Waldrum, ECU Health CEO and dean of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. “We are pleased legislators not only recognize the need to explore solutions to maintain rural health care, but also recognize ECU Health as a leading voice on this important topic. The visit to Beaufort County and Greenville gave us an opportunity to show our mission in action, and we are deeply appreciative of the committee for spending time with us discussing rural health care.”