A Virginia Senate committee granted Patrick County’s lone hospital a second chance Thursday.
The Senate Education and Health panel revived a bill by Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, that would extend the license of Patrick County’s Pioneer Community Hospital, giving the 25-bed facility another chance to reopen.
A victim of partisan politics, Senate Democrats killed the emergency legislation as they argued the need for Medicaid expansion — one of the top items on their session to-do list. Stanley said some of his Democratic colleagues told him they would kill the bill unless Stanley voted in favor of expanding Medicaid to about 400,000 more Virginia residents.
