Virginia hospitals, clinics brace for federal health care changes

Virginia Hospitals and Health Clinics Are Reeling Because of Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman

Virginia hospital and health care leaders continue to make clear that Jen Kiggans’ and Rob Wittman’s bill is gutting Medicaid and eliminating access to care across the Commonwealth.  A rural hospital official told the Virginia Mercury that the Kiggans and Wittman-backed cuts are “pretty scary,” and the Cardinal News reported that the recent closure of three Virginia health clinics “could foreshadow things to come for more of rural Virginia.”  Re…

Virginia hospitals, clinics brace for federal health care changes

Lee County Community Hospital in Pennington Gap was once shuttered before Ballad Health took over and reopened the facility in 2021. Now it is among Virginia's vulnerable hospitals amid federal funding changes to public health. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)This article, Part Two of the Mercury’s Pulse Check series, was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2025 Impact Fund for Reporting on …