BELHAVEN — The fight to reopen the hospital in Belhaven and the continuing lawsuit brought by the Town of Belhaven and the state NAACP against Vidant Health and Pantego Creek LLC is the Washington Daily News’ top story of 2015.

On July 1, 2014, Vidant Health closed Vidant Pungo Hospital in Belhaven, citing deficits in the millions, and turned it back over to its current owners, Pantego Creek LLC. The move has pitted Belhaven residents against one another, leading to a battle between hospital supporters and residents concerned about fiscal responsibility.

Belhaven Mayor Adam O’Neal, along with town and civil rights officials, has led the charge to reopen the facility ever since its closure, a charge that’s involved highly publicized walks to Raleigh and Washington, D.C.

The Town of Belhaven is also in the process of claiming the hospital property under eminent domain and obtaining a $6 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture. But the town has faced a list of requirements for the loan, including a certificate of need and a property title (which should be settled by eminent domain).

Garland Burnette, program director at USDA Rural Development, said Belhaven was informed of the conditions in mid-July.

To exempt the town from the certificate of need requirement, O’Neal, civil rights activist Bob Zellner and Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson marched to Raleigh to employ help from Gov. Pat McCrory and state legislators.

The legislature ended up passing a bill in early October clarifying the legal definition of Belhaven’s hospital building as a “legacy medical care facility,” thus eliminating the need for the town to obtain a certificate of need, which is essentially a license to run a hospital.

“This is the last political issue,” O’Neal said at the time. “It’s a huge victory for the people.”

But the war proved to be far from over.

The town and the North Carolina NAACP took Vidant and Pantego Creek to court last year, alleging breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair trade practices. The case has weaved in and out of federal and state courts, but most recently landed under the jurisdiction of Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright.

After hearing arguments from both sides on Oct. 6, Judge Albright decided to throw out the case, prompting the plaintiffs’ decision to appeal.

O’Neal spoke openly about his opinion that the court decided unfairly. He said Judge Albright was “completely awkward” and should not have presided over the case to begin with, considering he is from Guilford County. Instead, O’Neal argued that Judge Milton Fitch Jr. was a better candidate to hear the case.

Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, also announced in November the NAACP’s decision to file another complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, asking for a federal investigation as to why the African-American Judge Fitch did not preside over the case and whether it had anything to do with his race.

“We will never stop fighting for what is right,” Barber said. “Justice delayed. Justice denied. People are dying.”

Throughout, Vidant has remained adamant that the medical company has done nothing wrong, and remains committed to Belhaven’s health care.

“Vidant continues to invest in eastern North Carolina through grants and other community health care initiatives. In Beaufort and Hyde counties alone, Vidant has invested more than $1.3 million to upgrade emergency services and to address issues related to access to care, chronic disease prevention and management, nutrition and physical activity, including funding to: Beaufort County EMS, $500,000 to upgrade paramedic services in the county; Hyde County EMS, $250,000 to upgrade two medical emergency transport vehicles; and Washington-Tyrrell EMS, $25,000 for a Quick Response Vehicle to assist eastern Beaufort County with emergency calls,” a press release stated.

Vidant is also in the process of building a 24-hour, $5.5 million multispecialty clinic in Belhaven to help with the town’s health care needs. It is set to open in June of 2016.

Some residents are still concerned about how much money the lawsuit and efforts to reopen the hospital will cost the town’s taxpayers.

“Don’t hurt Belhaven further to make a very weak point. You have wrongly invested your time and energy in something that will only divide us further as a community. If you want to really provide leadership, humbly admit the cause is lost and think about Belhaven’s future and not its past,” Belhaven resident David Pierce wrote in a Letter to the Editor.

But Mayor O’Neal vehemently asserts his plans to stay the course.

“Everything is moving in a very good manner, and we’re still on course,” he said in October. “And we will not be going away.”