Jimmy Carter, a foundation representative for Rappahannock General Hospital, told the Lancaster County Board of Supervisors that the community raised $21,000,000 to support hospital improvements and to assure the hospital’s place in the local economy.

"The hospital is important not only to the medical health of this community, but it's important to the economic health of this community," Carter said during the board's presentation slot.

Dr. Bessie Brown, chief executive officer of Rappahannock General Hospital, described specific service lines and capital projects the funds support. The board heard that $14,500,000 of the $21,000,000 went to emergency department and café renovations; Bon Secours provided $10,000,000 toward geothermal infrastructure; outpatient improvements ("OPIC") were listed at $3,200,000; the laboratory upgrades at $2,100,000; and CT and pharmacy upgrades at about $1.8 million each.

Brown described the hospital's clinical offerings and a new documentation pilot. She said the hospital operates med-surg telemetry, a swing-bed program for post-acute stays, inpatient behavioral health, surgical services and outpatient infusion and imaging.

"We are very blessed at Rappahannock that with that swing bed program as part of a critical access hospital, you could be brought back to our hospital and it's covered," Brown said, explaining how the swing-bed option lets patients remain closer to home for some post-procedure care.

Brown and Carter emphasized investments in diagnostic and stroke care. They said the hospital recently installed a CT scanner with faster image processing and uses tele-neurology robots to link bedside staff with neurologists off-site. Hospital staff reported handling about 1,281 emergency department visits in the last month and transferring 81 patients off-site during that period.

The presenters also described an "ambient documentation" pilot developed in partnership with Mayo Clinic and Bon Secours that uses voice capture and AI to record clinical encounters and populate the medical record, a system they said limits manual charting and potentially improves clinician time with patients.

Board members pressed on community perceptions and the hospital's status as a critical access facility. Brown said the hospital is stroke-certified and has received recognition from peer organizations and accreditors. Carter and Brown also invited supervisors to tour the facility and stressed that the hospital is not at risk of closure.

The hospital presentation provided fiscal and operational details the board said they found reassuring and relevant to Lancaster County residents.