Three Beaufort County commissioners were appointed to the Beaufort County Regional Medical Authority Board last week, replacing former board members Keith Kidwell, Commissioner Hood Richardson and Roy Simpson, whose terms were up.

Richardson, who has served on the hospital board since 2009, has been vocal in his objections to the Board of Commissioners’ recent decision to disband the hospital board and the county assuming control of a $6.5 million trust the hospital board oversees next year.

Commissioners Ron Buzzeo, Jerry Langley and Frankie Waters were appointed to the hospital board by a 6-1 vote in the commissioners’ regular meeting on Sept. 10. Richardson was the sole dissenting vote.

According to Board of Commissioners Chairman Gary Brinn, the reason why the three veteran board members were replaced is that the board’s days are numbered and the responsibility of the trust will be moving into commissioners’ hands.

“We’re just going in another direction. We’re going to completely do away with the authority board in six months and we’re going to overseeing the escrow account through the Board of Commissioners,” Brinn said.

Richardson disagreed.

“The reason they packed the (hospital) board with commissioners is they want that money,” Richardson said. “They can spend that money on anything they want to spend that money for once they get control of it.”

Richardson believes the transfer of hospital board authority, along with doing away with the hospital board, will lead to Vidant Health diminishing its services in Beaufort County.

“It pretty much guarantees that Vidant can do what it wants, to the point where you’ll maybe have a emergency room, and some outpatient care, but everything else will go to Greenville,” Richardson said. “It will be long, slow death.”

Brinn, however, said Vidant has other plans, ones that don’t include pulling out of Beaufort County.

“They’re getting ready to spend $9 million to refurbish the (Vidant Beaufort) emergency room. They have no plans to do anything with hospital except to keep it as it is and make upgrades on it,” Brinn said.

Commissioners have maintained that once the hospital board is dissolved and the oversight of the trust shifts to the Board of Commissioners, the money will be earmarked for a specific purpose.

“That money will be used for health care in Beaufort County. It’s not going to be used anywhere else,” Brinn said.