FRANCONIA, N.H. — For more than two decades, residents in this tiny tourist town in the shadow of the White Mountains knew they could just drive a few minutes down the road to their community health center for a physical, a Vitamin B-12 shot or to get checked out for a case of the sniffles or high blood pressure.

But that changed last month, when this site of the Ammonoosuc Community Health Services in Franconia closed.

The nearly 1,400 patients, who are often older and with more health problems than others in New Hampshire, will have to drive farther for their health care — a tricky prospect for some, especially during the winter months. More importantly, they will lose the close-knit bonds they forged with staffers like Diane LaDuke, who greets everyone with a smile from her perch at t

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