Serving Southeatstern Halifax County since 1948

It’s the town where they park in the middle of the street – this is often the catch phrase used to describe the location of Scotland Neck. However, there are many gems that shape the character of this small rural town, one in particular being the hospital that the town refused to lose.

Our Community Hospital first opened its doors in 1948, serving farmers, townspeople, elderly, and poor. The hospital thrived until the late-1980’s, when a funding crisis began drowning it in a sea of red ink. Patient numbers had decreased and the hospital was losing upwards of $40,000 a month. The State Office of Rural Health had initially recommended closing the hospital. Generations of Scotland Neck residents had been born and healed at Our Community Hospital. Rather than passively accept fate, the community, as the hospital’s name signifies, banded together and fought to keep the hospital open. The community, working with the Office of Rural Health, devised a bold, innovative plan to convert the 20-bed hospital into an emergency care center. Our Community Hospital, under this plan, would expand to include a doctor’s practice, emergency room, lab and X-ray facilities, along with 20 acute care beds, 20 assisted living beds, and 60 skilled nursing beds. However, there was an obstacle to overcome: the community had to raise funds to support the hospital. The townspeople responded with a time-honored rural tradition—a fundraising campaign, selling baked goods, candles, and books. Townspeople also opened their hearts and wallets, and in the end, raised $200,000 locally. Completed in 1992, Our Community Hospital thrives today; meeting the health care needs of Scotland Neck.

In 1995, Our Community Hospital participated in a pilot federal program called the “Each Peach Program.” This model was the basis for the Critical Access Hospital designation for rural institutions, which has grown to classify almost a quarter of the nation’s hospitals. Today, the hospital is recognized as a model for rural healthcare. The “continuum of care” vision that inspired the townspeople to keep their small hospital in the late 80’s has come to fruition.