Have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if a real emergency occurred and how the time it takes to reach a doctor could mean the difference between recovery and something far worse?

Not every crisis begins with flashing lights. Sometimes, it’s a child with a fever that won’t break. Sometimes, it’s chest pain you hope is nothing. In those moments, access to timely care matters. But in Appomattox, that access is limited and the consequences are real.

Right now, Blue Ridge Medical Center is the only primary care provider in town. And while they do their best, they simply can’t meet the demand of an entire town, let alone the surrounding county. Getting an appointment is a challenge. Wait times are long, and by the time you’re seen, the window for early treatment might already have passed.

And for those who can’t wait? Emergency rooms become the fallback. But even they aren’t close. Lynchburg General or Centra Southside in Farmville are both more than 20 miles away. In a true emergency, those miles stretch impossibly long.

If you’re hoping for urgent care, it gets worse. There is no real urgent care in Appomattox. The closest options are again 20 to 30 minutes out. A quick Google search might tell you there’s a MedExpress Urgent Care here in town but that’s false. It doesn’t exist. For someone in distress, that misinformation costs time. You end up circling back, frustrated and still without help. By the time you realize it’s fake, you could have been halfway to Lynchburg.

For a growing community, this is unacceptable. Families are moving in, new homes are being built, and yet our access to basic medical services has not kept pace. There are parents driving sick kids across counties. Elderly residents trying to make the right call, hoping they won’t regret waiting too long. People shouldn’t have to choose between delay and distance when they’re scared and vulnerable.

What we need is simple. We need a real urgent care facility in Appomattox. We need expanded access at our local clinics. We need accurate public information about what’s truly available. And we need the people with the power to prioritize this issue and recognize that access to health care is not a convenience it’s a necessity.

Because when every minute matters, every mile does too.