Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, said as legislators considered Senate Bill (SB) 392.
The bill, which is heading to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk, requires every hospital and emergency department to have at least one licensed physician on duty at all times.
Williams said it’s difficult for Patrick County to field that 24-hour emergency room and cover the round-the-clock shifts.
It’s one thing to have a doctor on call who gets to the ER within the 20-minute window an ambulance is coming in, but “it’s another thing to have them standing there all the time being paid by a provider that might not be able to make ends meet and ultimately decides to close again. That’s the trouble, it’s a vicious circle,” he said.
Williams also said the bill is an example of why this type of legislation is poorly decided and applied to rural localities.
“You got these types of bills where there’s just this forced expectation of demanding that the private industry absorbs the costs of these changes and it’s just so draining on those folks who are just trying to survive and keep their head above water, and you’re throwing more water on top of them, and filling it up and asking them to swim harder,” he said.
SB 392 passed the House of Delegates in a 63-36 vote. The Senate agreed to the House’s version and passed it with a 36-2 vote.
“So, now it will head to the governor’s office. I have no clue if Youngkin will approve it,” Williams said.
During a session to discuss the bill, Williams said that many of the other delegates know of the work he’s been trying to do for Patrick County’s hospital which shut down in 2017.
“By no fault of its own, no fault of the parent company which eventually went bankrupt,” he said.
Williams said he entered the House working on that and passed a bill in 2022 that would extend the Certificate of Public Need (COPD) licensure so there could be a shot of reopening the former Pioneer Community Hospital of Patrick County.
“Shortly after that, new providers purchased it. but the new providers are struggling because of the costs with regards to healthcare and the regulations that state governments and federal governments put in place,” he said.
While he knows SB 392 comes from good intentions, Williams said Patrick County has only one doctor.
“Dr. Richard Cole is one of my best friend’s dads. He’s been practicing for years, he’s in his late 60s, and since I’ve been a delegate we’ve been looking for somebody to take over his practice,” he said, tearing up.
Williams said Cole’s practice includes Patrick County Family Practice, Patrick County Urgent Care, and over 30,000 patients from Virginia and North Carolina.
“Prior to the hospital shutting down he was making rounds at the ER and at the nursing home (Blue Ridge Therapy Connection). In my district, we have one emergency room over 1,500 square miles, and I’m afraid that one might close too,” he said, crying.
Williams asked legislators to think about unintended consequences when it comes to rural healthcare, “because this might save lives in other regions, but it’s going to hurt and it’s going to have a real impact on places like mine. It’s going to be even harder to open that hospital if we have to staff an additional doctor,” he said.
Following the session, Williams said people who oppose the bill could possibly reach out to Youngkin’s office, “because at this point, it will just be whether or not it would be vetoed, or it could be amended. The governor could amend the bill, and I’m not certain what kind of amendment could help with the regulatory burden that this well-intended legislation places on places like ours.”
