Recognizing our teams on National Rural Health Day
VCU Health leaders unite to champion the health care needs of rural communities today and every day.
November 20, 2025
VCU Health has two hospitals in rural communities: VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital and VCU Health Tapahhanock Hospital. (Aleixka Block Macfie, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
By Pete Woody and Sara McCloskey-Nieves
Patients in rural areas often face unique barriers to getting access to the health care they need. Community health care facilities that are part of an academic health system allow those who live and work in rural areas to receive excellent care locally while also having access to more specialized services.
National Rural Health Day, led by the Association of American Medical Colleges, is a day of action to raise awareness and recognize the efforts of academic medicine and the rural health care providers, communities, organizations and other collaborators who are committed to addressing the unique health care needs of rural Americans.
“VCU Health places great value on rural health as it is completely aligned and interwoven with our mission. Our two hospitals in rural Virginia, Community Memorial Hospital and Tappahannock Hospital, are essential to the work that we do, and we take great pride in serving those communities,” said Marlon Levy, M.D., MBA, senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences and CEO of VCU Health. “Our health system is deeply committed to caring for our patients, their families and our team members living and working in those communities.”
One way we showed our unwavering commitment to rural communities this year was by launching a new residency program based at VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital. The program is the culmination of years of collaboration between the health system, Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine and the Department of Family Medicine – bringing more community-focused physicians to South Hill.
“When we continue to invest in training programs, we are also investing in the longevity of our communities,” said Sheldon Barr, president of VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital, in an editorial for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “When we mentor, we multiply impact. And when we open our doors to new learners, we plant roots that can last a lifetime.”
This year, we achieved another milestone by bringing pioneering cancer research directly to our patients in the Northern Neck. VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center launched the first clinical trial at VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital.
“At VCU Health, we are always focused on meeting the needs of our communities, and that is particularly important in rural areas,” said Josh Hammond, interim president of VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital. “It is important to take time today to celebrate our great people who work tirelessly to improve care and access to care in our rural community.”
Today and every day, we recognize and thank our team members at VCU Health Community Memorial Hospital and VCU Health Tappahannock Hospital for their unwavering dedication to their communities across Southside Virginia, portions of North Carolina, Tappahannock, the Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula regions of Virginia.
As a health system, we are committed to advancing the health and well-being of these communities, and we are grateful for the contributions of everyone who is working to make this vision a reality.
