Luther Ramsey enjoyed using Augusta Health’s Churchville Primary Care practice, even after moving to Bridgewater from Mount Solon.
Ramsey, who has diabetes and uses a pacemaker, must now decide where to go for medical treatment.
“This is inconvenient,’’ Ramsey said as he headed into the Churchville clinic for an appointment just two days before it closed for good Oct. 3. Ramsey, who needed a ride to his appointment, said his preference is to continue seeing Augusta Health doctors, and expects he will go to an Augusta Health primary care practice in Verona or Staunton.
Patients lament the clinic’s closing. But the seismic change in Churchville is already felt by longtime residents who cannot remember the small community in western Augusta County without a doctor. They say beyond the extra miles residents will now have to travel to see a doctor, Churchville is losing part of its identity.
And, they say, the presence of a doctor and clinic in a small community contributes to the local economy and supports population growth.
The Churchville practice is one of three closures announced by Augusta Health in early September. The health system has also closed a primary care practice in Buena Vista and an urgent care clinic in Weyers Cave.
The health system says all patients were notified of the closings by letter. The news attracted national attention, including a report by CNN. Both of Virginia’s Democratic U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, have spoken about the closings, blaming them on the passage of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Churchville patients are urged to go to the health system’s practice in Verona, an additional 10 miles from Churchville.
Buena Vista Primary Care patients will transition to the Maury River Family Practice or Lexington Primary Care, both less than 10 miles from Buena Vista. Those who have used Weyers Cave Urgent Care are advised to go to Staunton Urgent Care.
But while 10 miles may not seem like a lot, it can be in a rural area, said a Virginia legislator who has studied the commonwealth’s delivery of rural health care.
Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico County, chaired the Virginia House of Delegates’ Select Committee for Rural and Small Town Health Care in 2024.
The select committee traveled across Virginia visiting providers and clinics. Willett said one constant about rural health care is that “transportation is a top concern.” Willett said adding 10 miles is not the same in rural Virginia as it is in the populated areas.
“In Southwest Virginia, 10 miles might take 45 minutes,’’ he said. “In rural areas, 10 miles can be 100 miles.” Willett also said for the affected Augusta Health patients, the real story might be more difficult access to necessary care.
“It’s not even preventive care, it’s regular care,’’ he said. “If doctors can put their hands on people they find the blood sugar is a little higher and the heart medicine isn’t working.”
The staff affected by the Augusta Health closings were reassigned. The health system said no one was laid off.
Augusta Health has pointed to decreased revenues from Medicaid because of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act as one reason for the closings. The legislation restricts use of provider taxes and direct payments to help reimburse hospitals for treating patients under Medicaid.
Augusta Health officials declined to speak on the record for this story. But in September, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that those cuts would bring a $28 million hit to the health system’s revenues annually.
‘Losing our hometown doctor’
Cecilia Carpenter, the chief operating officer of Augusta Medical Group, the health system’s multispecialty physician group, told The Waynesboro News Virginian in September that the loss of Medicaid coverage from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would have “a long-term negative impact.”
Carpenter told the newspaper “fewer people will have health insurance and we are obligated to take care of them.”
Carpenter also pointed to a second reason for the closings: The long-term outlook for the communities affected by the closings is not promising. She said the health system is not seeing population growth in Buena Vista, Churchville and Weyers Cave.
Churchville business owners and others say the loss of a local doctor manning the clinic means more than inconvenience and some extra miles.
“Churchville is a village, and the health care provision cannot be left vacant,’’ said Dane Buse, the owner of MTN. Mystic, a Churchville coffee shop. He said his business has been down since the September announcement of the practice closing.
More than once in the past month, Buse said, he has heard “What are we going to do?” from his customers. “This is unfathomable,’’ said Buse, who said residents are discreet people who want to stay close to home.
Jack Wilson’s perspective about medical care is unique: He is the son of a late Churchville pediatrician. Wilson, who is the owner of The Necessary Mercantile, a Churchville honey and mushroom business, recalls his father doing house calls 90 to 100 days a year.
“We are losing our hometown doctor. We are separating people from the doctor,’’ Wilson said. He calls the closing “another step toward impersonal health care.”
Farther to travel, but a more robust schedule
Patients of Churchville Primary Care were interviewed in the final days of the practice.
Victoria Vacher is a longtime patient of Churchville Primary Care. She is able-bodied, has a vehicle, and expects to transition to the Augusta Health Verona practice. She is not certain about the older patients in Churchville.
“A lot of people here have to walk or get a ride to go to the doctor,’’ Vacher said. Beyond the care she received at Churchville Primary Care, Vacher said the clinic “was clean and immaculate.”
Dianna Hevener has been coming to Churchville Primary Care for years. A widow, she lives about 20 minutes away in Parnassus. Provided she can keep the same physician she has seen in Churchville, Hevener said she will travel the added miles to Verona.
“This is a little shorter for me,’’ she said of the drive to Churchville. Hevener is “a little disappointed” about the closing. But driving the extra distance won’t deter her.
“I will go to Verona; that won’t be a problem. But this was more convenient,’’ she said.
Churchville resident Barry Tomey has experience as a long-distance truck driver. He once made trips to Canada for McKee Foods in Augusta County. The drive to Verona does not concern him.
“This won’t stop me,’’ he said. “Verona is not too bad.”
While driving to Verona from Churchville means added miles, there are scheduling benefits.
Augusta Health’s Verona practice is open five days a week, instead of the three days a week Churchville was open.
Churchville resident Kris Cree said the extra distance is taxing for her family, but said the Verona practice’s extra days help. “Churchville is a little more convenient,’’ Cree said. “But I was able to reschedule my husband’s physical [in Verona] on the same day.”
Buse said the only way to make Churchville whole again is to attract a doctor. “We need providers for the village to function properly,’’ he said.
Buse said he anticipates a steady return of customers to his business and the return of relaxed conversation if the medical dilemma is resolved.