Despite wave of rural hospital closures, and COVID-19 pandemic, Ballad Health invests $20 million in rural healthcare PENNINGTON GAP, Va. – Ballad Health – the only healthcare system of its kind in the nation – is again rewriting the story of modern healthcare, opening a rural hospital for the second time in less than three years. Lee County Community Hospital, a 10-bed modern medical facility serving rural Pennington Gap and its surrounding communities in Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky, officially opened its doors to the public on Thursday, July 1, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, July 2. But the story of America’s newest rural hospital is more than the construction of a new facility – it’s a testament to the perseverance of a community and a health system’s unwavering commitment to rural healthcare availability and access. “More than 130 rural hospitals in the United States have closed in the last 10 years, and most…