ROCKINGHAM, Vt. (WCAX) – North Star Health is closing their Rockingham Health Center, and on Thursday night, the community came together to protest.
Dozens of residents near the Bellows Falls primary care walk-in and behavior health services office expressed their anger at North Star Health after the non-profit announced that the health center was losing $800 million a year and needed to be closed to keep the North Star Health system afloat.
“For our organization, there’s no more costs to cut, and I think that’s important for everybody to understand,” said Josh Dufresne of North Star Health.
Patients are now directed to go to health centers in neighboring Springfield and Charlestown. Both are over a 15 minute drive away with little to no public transportation availability.
With rising expense costs for insurance companies and hospitals, primary care is no exception. Rural primary care offices have been consolidating across the region.