Two Northwest Texas Healthcare System freestanding emergency departments in Amarillo have reopened after closing in late November due to hospital contractor NES Health's failure to pay employees.
Here are four things to know:
1. NES Health, a physician-led company that offers ED physician staffing and comprehensive outsourced hospital management solutions, plans to shutter operations due to financial struggles that have left ED physicians at multiple hospitals without pay.
2. The physicians, who were not NWTHS employees, had initially continued to staff both NWTHS EDs despite not being paid, but recently shared that they could not continue to work if their services went unpaid.
3. NWTHS advanced funds to NES to pay the physicians and employees at the system's two freestanding EDs to ensure patient care. However, NES informed the affected employees that it was unable to pay their salaries.
4. An agreement between the physicians and allied employees was reached instead with Palm Beach Accountable Care Organization, allowing for operations to resume at both NWTHS ED locations, a NWTHS spokesperson said in a Dec. 2 statement shared with Becker's.
"The hospital is contracted with the new vendor for these services moving forward," the statement said. "We extend our appreciation to all involved in facilitating this smooth transition and ensuring we are now positioned to deliver on our aligned mission of providing convenient access to high-quality care in our community."
Becker's has reached out to NES Health multiple times for comment and will update this story should more information become available.