Riverside Smithfield Hospital will open at 8 a.m. on Jan. 6. The date was first mentioned during a Smithfield Town Council meeting in October, though at that time it was tentative and dependent on the completion of final surveys scheduled for December. The Virginia Department of Health recently granted Riverside Smithfield's general hospital license, which becomes effective Jan. 1. It was the final milestone Riverside was looking for to announce an opening date. Riverside confirmed the opening date on Dec. 23, three weeks after a Dec. 4 ribbon-cutting ceremony. The 50-bed, 200,000-square-foot facility will bring state-of-the-art health care and more than 300 new jobs to Isle of Wight and Surry counties, both of which for decades have been federally designated as medically underserved.
In a social media landscape shaped by hashtags, algorithms, and viral posts, nurse leaders must decide: Will they let the narrative spiral, or can they adapt and join the conversation?
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