| Eula Hall | |
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Eula Hall in her Mud Creek Clinic Office (2009) |
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| Born | October 29, 1927 Pike County, Kentucky |
| Occupation | health care community activist |
| Spouse | McKinley (divorced after 33 years), Oliver Hall |
| Children | 5 children (4 sons including Troy and Dean) |
| Parents | Lee D. and Elizabeth "Nanny" Riley |
Eula Hall, (October 29, 1927 – ) is a prominent Appalachian activist and healthcare pioneer who founded the Mud Creek Clinic in Grethel in Floyd County, Kentucky.
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A self-described "hillbilly activist", Eula was born the second of seven surviving children of Lee D. and Nanny Elizabeth Riley, tenant farmers living in Joe Boner Hollow near Greasy Creek, Kentucky. At the age of 9 she attended Greasy Creek Elementary School in Pike County and graduated from the 8th grade in five years.[1] The local high school, over 20 miles away, was too far away for her to continue her education. She briefly worked in a World War II canning factory in Ontario, New York, at the age of 15 but was sent back to Kentucky on charges of 'inciting a labor riot' due to poor working conditions.[2]
Upon returning to the mountains, she moved to Floyd County where she worked as a domestic servant for wealthy families who were boarding mine, oil and drilling workers. It was there she met her first husband, McKinley, a coal miner. They married when she was seventeen and together had five children. All were born at home: one born premature and deaf and another died in infancy.
She rose to prominence as an activist as a member of the local 979 community group and the East Kentucky Worker's Rights Organization. She created the Mud Creek Water District and served as President of the Kentucky Black Lung Association.
During President Johnson's War on Poverty she joined the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program and later became one of two local Appalachian Volunteers working in the area. In response to the failed War on Poverty health program in Floyd County, Mrs. Hall established the Mud Creek Clinic in 1973 in Grethel, Kentucky.[3]
In 1973, Hall opened the doors to The Mud Creek Clinic in Mud Creek, Kentucky for the uninsured and the underinsured.[4] She began with a $1,400 donation and the commitment of two local doctors who volunteered from Our Lady of the Way hospital in Martin, KY. The clinic began in a rented trailer on Tinker Fork but it soon outgrew the facility and Hall decided to move her own family into a two bedroom mobile home and use her own house as the new location for the clinic. She converted the three bedrooms into six exam rooms and the rest of the house into waiting rooms and offices. At the time, the clinic didn't have its own pharmacy and medications had to be delivered from the local hospital after the clinic had closed. Hall would spend half the night delivering medication to patients who had been at the clinic that day.[5]
By 1977, the patient population was so great that Mud Creek Clinic was struggling to meet the needs of the community. Patients often came from as far as Tennessee, West Virginia, and Ohio to get medical care. Mud Creek Clinic then joined forces with Big Sandy Health Care, Inc. (BSHC) a local non-profit health care organization that operated another community clinic in neighboring Magoffin County. This merger allowed Mud Creek to receive some federal funding and widen its patient care. After the merger, Eula stayed on as a patient advocate for the Mud Creek Clinic and continues to work in that capacity today.
In 1982, Hall and the Mud Creek community suffered a great loss when the clinic burned down at the hand of a mysterious arsonist. The next morning Hall and the clinic doctor pulled a picnic table under a willow tree and treated patients who had schedules appointments. She even had the phone company place a phone on the tree so that patients could call the clinic. Hall then had two used trailers joined together to use as a temporary clinic. A few months after the fire, Hall received a letter from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) stating that they would donate funds for a new facility for Mud Creek Clinic. One of the conditions of the funding was that the community would be required to come up with $80,000 in matching funds. She called a public meeting and over 400 people showed up and pledged their support. People gave money and items to be raffled off at auction, Hall organized a two-day radiothon that raised $17,000, and multiple chicken-and-dumpling dinners that earned $1,300 apiece. With Eula's leadership, the community raised $120,000 - $40,000 more than the necessary $80,000 required by the ARC. The extra money paid for new X-ray equipment for the clinic.
The new clinic opened its doors in 1984 as a modern 5,200 square feet (480 m2) brick building. It is still the home of the clinic today. The clinic houses its own laboratory, x-ray machines and pharmacy. The clinic has expanded to include an adjacent 1,800-square-foot (170 m2) building that houses a dental clinic, clothing room and a food pantry that serves more than 100 families per month.
The Mud Creek Clinic had over 13,000 patient encounters last year and no one is ever turned away.[6]
As Social Director, Eula counsels patients on disability claims and Social Security benefits, arranges financial aid for food and drugs, answers questions about food stamps and housing opportunities, and attends civic board meetings and hearings. When patients can't afford lawyers, she often represents them in court. She wins approximately ninety percent of her cases.
Eula has received numerous awards for her advocacy work, including honorary doctorates from Berea College - Berea, Kentucky; Midway College - Midway, Kentucky; Pikeville College - Pikeville, Kentucky and Trinity College - Hartford, CT. She was honored at Berea College alongside the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2004, the Appalachian Ministries Educational Resource Center presented Hall with the Annual David S. Shuller Spirit of AMERC Award. She has received personal letters from President George Bush, Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Hal Rogers, among other notables who have recognized the amazing work and the on-going effort Hall has devoted to the health and well-being of eastern Kentucky.
In October 2006, Highway 979 that runs through the Mud Creek area, was named the Eula Hall Highway in her honor.[7]
Big Sandy Healthcare also has started two funds in tribute to Mrs. Hall. The Eula Hall Patient Assistance Fund will cover healthcare costs for uninsured and indigent patients and the Eula Hall Scholarship Fund will provide financial assistance for area students pursuing careers in healthcare or social services.
The clinic has been visited by former President Bill Clinton, Senator Edward Kennedy,[8] Rev. Jesse Jackson, and John Edwards.
In 1977, she divorced her first husband and the next year married Oliver Hall, a retired miner.