“We regret to inform you that St. Mark’s Medical Center has ceased all treatment services effective 7 am, October 12, 2023, due to ongoing, insurmountable financial difficulties” (St. Mark’s Medical Center, 2023). That was the headline that shook rural Fayette County, Texas, and caused an uproar of both panic and fear: Where would folks go for comprehensive or emergency medical care with nearby hospitals 30 minutes, or more, away? And, gosh, so many hospital employees would now be out of a job. Where would the staff—nurses, doctors, custodians, and so forth—work now, and what impact would their exodus have on the community—on the schools and local restaurants? And, most pressingly, what happened to the money already paid to the hospital for services rendered; the grants distributed by the federal government during the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic; and the significant monetary donations gifted to the hospital by local nonprofit organizations and private donors? These were just a few of the questions swirling through the community, and no one had any good answers.