UPDATE: Vidant responds to action by Dare commissioners By IRENE NOLAN
UPDATE: Vidant responds to action
by Dare commissioners
By IRENE NOLAN
By IRENE NOLAN
By IRENE NOLAN
Vidant Health has responded to action taken by the Dare County Board of Commissioners last week that essentially cuts its county funding by half.
The board voted unanimously at its June 2 meeting to give half of the $100,000 in support that it contributes to Vidant Health, which operates Vidant Family Care in Avon, to the newly reopened Hatteras Medical Center.
Beginning with the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, $50,000 in county funds will go to Vidant and $50,000 will go to Hatteras Medical Center in Hatteras village.
When asked for reaction to the action, Vidant issued a three-sentence response.
“While we have heard that Dare County is reducing funding for Vidant Family Care in Avon, we have not been contacted by officials regarding the matter,” a spokesperson said in a written statement.
“Vidant Health helped stabilize health care on the island and has been a part of the Hatteras Island community since 1998,” the spokesperson continued. “We look forward to working together with county leaders to continue to provide health care for Hatteras Island and the Outer Banks.”
The spokesperson also noted that Vidant’s hospital in Belhaven has not closed. Vidant, she said, is working with the community to hand the facility over to local control and ownership.
