It’s about time

In a little more than a week, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners and the Beaufort Regional Health System Board of Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the lease/purchase offer by University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina for the operation of BRHS.

Our advice to those boards: Approve the deal.

Beaufort County residents, BRHS employees and others need closure in regard to the future of the local health-care system. Negotiations, with their ups and downs and uncertainties, have eaten up month after month.

After months of rhetoric, it’s time for resolution. There is no doubt some people don’t like the UHS offer. It’s their right not to like it. In our analysis, it’s clear that many Beaufort County residents and health-care professionals believe a BRHS-UHS affiliation is what’s best to meet local health-care needs.

The prescription offered by UHS must be filled.