Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health is evaluating services at Elizabethton, Tenn.-based Sycamore Shoals Hospital for possible consolidation, local news outlet WJHL reported April 20.
Ballad told WJHL that financial challenges and staffing shortages play a role in the evaluation.
The health system takes hospital volume and access to care into account when considering consolidation.
Previously, the health system has consolidated two hospitals in Greenville and Wise County, Va., along with various services across the region.
"In every instance where Ballad Health has consolidated a service or hospital, the evidence has demonstrated an improvement in the quality of care, the hospital has flourished and access to care has not been negatively impacted," a Ballad spokesperson told WJHL.