EO and Ballad Health Create an Ecosystem of Care in Washington County, VA

Nicole Boothe/VHCC Marketing and Communication Department

Across the rolling foothills of Southwest Virginia, innovative collaborations are creating a healthy, vibrant and sustainable future for the people who call this place home. 

EO, a newly established nonprofit organization in Washington County, is building upon more than 60 years of work supporting the region. 

“EO is making this a more healthy and livable community by focusing on those things that help people be better educated, have a career with a livable wage and live healthier lives,” says Travis Staton, EO’s president and CEO. 

Its mission focuses on early childhood care and education, workforce innovation and developing infrastructure to ensure the community can thrive. 

Investing in People 

One of the most recent examples of that mission is the EO Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub. Opened in 2024 in Abingdon, the $26.5 million hub was funded by partnerships, with nearly 80% of the funding coming from private sources. The 87,000-square-foot facility is home to child care and workforce development programs that are critical to EO’s mission. 

“The pandemic put a light on child care as part of the essential workforce,” Staton says. “If you want nurses and doctors, police officers and firefighters, you have to have affordable, reliable child care. We had people who wanted to get back to earning a wage and being productive, but couldn’t find care. So we set out to build supply and create capital investments to make that happen.” 

Ballad Health, whose network includes Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, was also looking at child care solutions to recruit and retain staff. 

“I don’t think there’s a community in the country that’s immune to the child care shortage and the challenges associated with it,” says Todd Norris, senior vice president of community health and system advancement for Ballad Health. “We think about it the way we think about roads and bridges – it’s vital community infrastructure, and vital to full employability. We are working to make sure there is child care capacity for our team members.” 

The two organizations’ goals converged, resulting in the creation of a Ballad Center for Early Learning at the EO Hub. With the capacity to serve 300 children, the center supports families by creating safe, stable and nurturing environments. 

Nicole Boothe/VHCC Marketing and Communication Department

Creating Capacity 

Norris says Ballad originally planned to develop a smaller center. “The community here came together to do something bigger than we were planning,” he says. “We had conversations with EO, foundations and employers like Food City. By working together, we created more capacity. We’re working with community partners to create an ecosystem of care for children and families in the area.” 

The center now serves not only the children of Ballad and Food City employees, but also the general public. It accepts state subsidies to ensure it can serve low-income families. 

Another EO focus is the Career Commons, a job exploration space for K-12 students. “We have a career-simulating ‘city’ where Ballad operates a hands-on hospital space,” Staton says. “You have to have these assets – infrastructure, child care and other facilities – to make a healthy community. And that is what makes this county a great place to live, work and raise a family.”