The Ascent of Hope: For the People We Serve

Climbing for Care: An Adventure for Eastern North Carolina’s Rural Healthcare Future

Mount Kilimanjaro Hospital Fund for WRMC

Standing at the edge of a mountain can feel like facing the vast unknown—cold winds biting, an endless void daring you to move. But those who press on carry a small yet unyielding flame burning against the darkness. You’ll know them by their steady gaze and unbroken stride, as if the world's weight could never defeat them. They climb not because it’s easy but because giving up was never an option.

Join us in this spirit of resilience—volunteer, amplify our message, help us raise funds, or take part in the ascent virtually. Together, we can make a difference for Washington Regional Medical Center and the communities it serves

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Washington Regional Medical Center

Join us in making a difference

Washington Regional Medical Center invites you to join CEO Frank Avignone on an extraordinary journey: scaling Mount Kilimanjaro from February 4th to February 15th, 2025. This initiative is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for vital upgrades and services at Washington Regional Medical Center in Plymouth, North Carolina. Every step he takes will contribute directly to enhancing healthcare in our community. Join him as he climbs for a cause that matters, turning ambition into action and hope into healing.

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Call to Action

Healthcare resources are disappearing for those who live in our rural sectors

Critical Access Hospitals like Washington Regional Medical Center (WRMC) are the backbone of rural communities, serving over 150,000 people in Eastern North Carolina with essential healthcare. State funds designated for growth and expansion are not luxuries—they are lifelines, crucial to sustaining these safety-net hospitals in regions where healthcare options are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Despite tireless advocacy and millions of dollars in generous support from a dedicated donor, WRMC was denied these vital state resources. This decision underscores the systemic neglect rural healthcare continues to face, even in the face of extraordinary private contributions. Without these funds, hospitals like WRMC must battle uphill just to maintain critical services, let alone expand them.

What’s the solution? Give up? Cut services? Lay off staff? Absolutely not. Instead, we climb Mount Kilimanjaro is considered the highest freestanding mountain in the world to show the people we serve in Easten North Carolina and the world that we will not stop fighting for our community’s right to healthcare.

We’re asking for gifts and donations totaling $12.5 million to renovate Washington Regional Medical Center and restore critical healthcare services to the region. This is about more than just funding—it’s about survival, fairness, and giving rural communities in Eastern North Carolina the healthcare they desperately need and deserve. Together, we can ensure this lifeline thrives for generations to come.

If you have family or friends among the 40 million adults and 13 million children living in rural areas, call them today. Ask how vital hospitals like WRMC are—not just for healthcare, but as economic engines for their communities. Without these hospitals, small towns suffer, people are forced to leave, and lives are needlessly lost due to the absence of local healthcare. Let’s fight for a future where these essential institutions continue to serve as the heart of our rural communities.