After bitter closure, rural Texas hospital defies the norm and reopens

Five months ago, the 6,500 residents of Crockett, Texas, witnessed a bit of a resurrection -- at least in rural hospital terms. A little more than a year after the local hospital shut its doors, the 25-bed facility reopened its emergency department, inpatient beds and some related services, albeit on a smaller scale. Without a hospital, residents of Crockett, located 120 miles north of Houston, were 35 miles away along rural roads from the next closest hospital when a medical crisis struck, said Dr. Bob Grier, board president of the Houston County Hospital District, which is the county's governmental authority that oversees Crockett, a public hospital. "Someone falls off the roof. A heart attack. A stroke. A diabetic coma. Start naming these rather serious things and health care is known for its golden hour," he said.