Former CEO of Randolph Health Angie Orth was instrumental in working with state legislators to pass the Rural Health Stabilization Act in 2019. The act would allow the state government to loan rural hospitals money at an interest rate below the market rate, and hospitals would have a max of 7 years to repay the principal. However, approval of the loan has been a contentious issue. On one hand, Randolph Health serves 140,000 Randolph County residents and employs over 1,000 people in the area. Closing it could cause rural residents to need to travel far to see a doctor and increase risks to their health. The impact of closing rural hospitals has already been observed nationwide, with 6 to 9% rises in mortality rates accompanying hospital closures. In the past ten years, over 100 rural hospitals closed with a record of 18 closures in 2019 and 17 in 2020.