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Opening date in sight for Franklin Medical Center

It's been one year since Franklin Medical Center closed its doors and county officials are optimistic the facility will soon reopen under new management.

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LOUISBURG, N.C. — It’s been one year since Franklin Medical Center closed its doors and county officials are optimistic the facility will soon reopen under new management.
Greg Williams said living next door to Franklin County Medical Center saved his life.
“I was life flighted two years ago from that hospital and if it wasn’t for that, I might not be here now,” he said.
Since the hospital closed in October of last year, Williams has witnessed people drive up to the facility not realizing it’s closed, only to turn around and find somewhere else to go.

“Most of my neighbors are in their eighties or nineties and they have no place to go so I literally take them to Raleigh or wherever they need to go. Like I said, they pull up here and don’t know what to do,” Williams said.

Novant Health made the decision a year ago to close, saying services were unsustainable. That situation could change within a matter of months as county leaders say they have accepted a proposal from Duke Lifepiont.

“The hospital is opening. Now, understand there is a process that we still have to go through and that is the negotiation process with Duke Life Point as to the fine points of the services,” said Chairman Sydney Dunston.

Dunston said the equipment inside the hospital has been maintained over the past year to make sure it remained in operating condition. He said the emergency room and diagnostic services were a top priority, and Duke Life Care is currently negotiating the purchase of free standing surgical units in the southern part of the county as well.

If everything goes as planned, the hospital should reopen in four to six months.

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