In 1972, Rio Linda fought to bring a young doctor to town. In 2026, the community has no primary-care physician and, following Rite Aid’s closure, no pharmacy.
In August 1972, a newspaper article carried the headline “A Challenge in Rio Linda.”
The challenge was bringing medical care to a growing rural community that needed more doctors.
Dr. John Bellizzi was 26 years old, recently graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School and had just completed an internship at Washington Hospital Center. Through the National Health Service Corps, he agreed to spend two years practicing medicine in Rio Linda…