TRO JB contributed to the expansion and renovation of this 35 bed acute care hospital and 131 bed nursing home. While the health of Bibb County, Alabama residents is of primary concern to Bibb Medical Center, there is compelling evidence that rural hospitals like Bibb Medical Center contribute to a community’s wellbeing well beyond their “healthcare” expectations.

 

Often, the hospital in rural communities is a major employer. Consequently, there is a positive economic impact from direct contributions in terms of employment. As the local community in Bibb County, Alabama would be important to retirees, young families, and businesses alike, Bibb is therefore a reflection of the community it services.

 

The hospital’s mission is to be accountable to one another across all healthcare service lines, responsibilities and roles. In a small community and in a rural hospital, everyone easily gets to know one another. It therefore is imperative that staff work closely together to solve issues as they arise.

 

Bibb Medical Center and other hospitals like it, are multi-purpose facilities to which residents and their neighbors go for healing, dining, and mixing and meeting. With iconic visibility and recognition as important small town resources, rural hospitals enjoy status similar to local courthouses and schools. They are landmarks that serve to define their communities. But even so, the primary purpose of rural hospitals, like their large hospital counterparts, remains: to provide for diagnosis, treatment, and healing of medical problems, and to provide general medical services.

 

Bibb Medical Center, one of approximately 2000 rural hospitals in the United States (roughly half of all hospitals in this country).