Asheboro, N.C.-based Randolph Health is in discussions with a potential healthcare successor in Randolph County as it tries to stay afloat, hospital leaders announced.
Randolph Health said the talks, with Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health, could lead to Cone Health becoming more directly involved in providing care in the community. The two entities already have a management services agreement, and Randolph Health noted that it is only exploring possibilities at this time.
The talks come as Randolph Health has incurred debt of more than $25 million from capital expenses related to building a new outpatient and cancer center in 2008. The debt could result in Randolph Health's closure, according to The Courier-Tribune. But North Carolina's newly created Rural Health Stabilization Program is providing some optimism.
The program would allow Randolph Health to receive a loan of up to $20 million to pay for building new healthcare facilities and/or to provide for operational costs during a three-year transition period, the newspaper reported.
Randolph Health said Randolph County's application for $20 million in loan funding requires a successor to ultimately become the new provider of care in Randolph County.
It said it "has been working to implement a new, innovative model of care to sustain local healthcare access far into the future," with implementation expected to take several years.
Meanwhile, "it is vitally important to understand that ensuring local access to high quality, sustainable health care right here in Randolph County is the chief aim of everyone involved," Randolph Health said.
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