Hospitals are both healthcare centers and economic hubs for rural communities.

The Thomasville Regional Medical Center opened in 2020, with state-of-the-art facilities. It closed less than five years later because of financial hardship.

Almost everyone in Thomasville, Alabama, has a story about how access to the local hospital — now closed — helped them in a crisis. This is Nichole Stinson’s.

Hospitals are both healthcare centers and economic hubs for rural communities.