UNC Health brings big benefits to four small health care providers.

• Position: SPONSORED SECTION

Rural community health care providers have a reputation for adding a personal touch to medical services. But lately it hasn't been all smiles on the inside for them. They face growing challenges, including financial pressures and increased demand for care. Almost 80 rural hospitals nationwide have closed their doors since January 2010, according to Chapel Hill-based North Carolina Rural Health Research Program and Policy Analysis Center. Those include Blowing Rock Hospital, Yadkin Valley Community Hospital in Yadkinville and Vidant Pungo Hospital

in Belhaven.

It's not any easier for small health care providers in rural eastern North Carolina. Greenville-based East Carolina University's Center for Health Disparities says that death rates from cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the state's 41 easternmost counties are higher than elsewhere in the state. But four providers there are fighting harder for their patients, increasing capacity, lowering costs and adding access to the latest high-tech care through partnerships with Chapel Hill-based UNC Health Care.

Rocky Mount-based Nash Health Care Systems entered a partnership with UNC in 2013. The five-hospital system considered four other health care systems before joining UNC. "By affiliating with UNC Health Care, we become clinically and financially stronger and better prepared to meet the challenges of the future," Nash President and CEO Larry Chewning said in a statement. Under the agreement, Nash retains financial and operational autonomy, and UNC brings lower costs and more clinical services.

Smithfield-based Johnston Health Services Corp. and UNC created a joint venture in 2014 to operate campuses in Clayton and Smithfield. Its board consists of 11 Johnston and six UNC appointees, according to a news release issued after the deal was complete. UNC paid $57.6 million for its stake. That money was used to finish a full-service 50-bed hospital in Clayton that opened in 2015. It brings intensive care and maternity services to a rapidly growing corner of the county, says Johnston spokeswoman Suzette Rodriguez. "Expectant mothers can deliver closer to home. In other cases, when a loved one is hospitalized, family members have an easier, more convenient trip to see them."

Lenoir Memorial Hospital offers inpatient, outpatient and preventive health care. It joined UNC last year. "Adding access to UNC's groundbreaking research and focus on advancing clinical care and our commitment to...