As rural hospitals teeter in Alabama and beyond, a pastor had to decide between her congregation and healthcare access for her husband. (CN) — Pastor Jennifer Guidoni loved serving Thomasville United Methodist Church in this small town of around 3,600 in southwestern Alabama. The people were warm, the community tight-knit. She had planned to stay for the long haul. But her husband Joseph’s complex medical needs — including for cardiology, rheumatology, orthopedic and other specialists — required repeated trips to Mobile or farther. The travel costs, hotel stays, gas and specialist copays for the two-plus-hour drives steadily drained the family’s resources. “Little bit by little bit, that ate up our income,” Guidoni said, recalling their recent decision to uproot in a phone interview. “It was wearing on my soul that I couldn’t help him more.” Ambulance response times w…

Specialists became less accessible, and facilities dwindled. In nearby Grove Hill, the main hospital no longer offers full acute care. Guidoni encountered the system’s gaps in other ways, too — like when her grandson, covered by Florida Medicaid, spiked a fever one night. The local hospital refused the out-of-state coverage, so she paid roughly $1,500 out of pocket for what turned out to be a common cold. Eventually, the couple concluded they had no choice but to move. “We had to leave, basically, to get healthcare,” she said. With church approval, Guidoni in July accepted an appointment at Tanner Williams United Methodist Church in Mobile County. The new location lets them reach care without the exhausting and expensive journeys.