Greenville, N.C.-based ECU Health is closing five regional outpatient clinics as part of a cost-cutting strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of the health system, according to the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.
The facilities include a women's clinic in Williamston, a family medicine clinic in Jacksonville, an immediate care clinic in Wilson, and family medicine clinics in Aurora and Snow Hill, N.C.
The nine-hospital system, which ended the 2022 fiscal year with an operating margin of -2 percent (a $46 million loss), is also discontinuing operation of the inpatient behavioral health care unit at ECU Health North Hospital in Roanoke Rapids. ECU Health said the move was driven by financial pressures, including a disproportionate number of uninsured or underinsured patients, but exacerbated by labor challenges.
Andrew Zukowski recently became CFO for ECU Health after his predecessor Davd Hughes retired after more than 25 years with the health system.