WASHINGTON – Staffers of the financially troubled Beaufort County hospital complex signaled overwhelmingly Tuesday night that they want the facility to be acquired by medical behemoth University Health Systems, which owns and operates Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

In a well-attended public hearing held on the campus of the community college, a solid majority of those who addressed the hospital trustees and county commissioners identified themselves as employees. The trustees, who are appointed, and the commissioners, who are elected, were seated on an elevated, draped dais, which overlooked a crowd of more than 200 people.