On September 13th our hospital closed, including the emergency room. Most people that I’ve heard from say that there’s nothing they can do about it; well there is.

You can call your elected officials in the 9th district and voice your concerns. Please remember that they work for you, not the other way around. Here is the list of names and their numbers for their Virginia office and their office in Washington, D.C..Governor Terry McAuliffe, 1-804-786-2211Senator Mark Warner, 1-202-224-2023Senator Tim Kaine, 1-202-224-4024Congressman M. Griffith, 1-202-225-3861Delegate C. Poindexter, 1-804-698-1009Judy Ahern, Director of Constituent Services, 1-804-786-7765           (Sec. of Health & Human Resources office)The bottom line is we need our hospital today but if we can’t have that right now then we need to get the ER portion up and running.  The emergency services volunteers are doing an outstanding job but we can’t rely on them forever.

Please take the time and make the call. You will be helping yourself, your family and the residents of Patrick County.

Rich Tochtrop