St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland will end inpatient and emergency room care in November and transition into an ambulatory health services provider.
Seismic shifts in healthcare over the last decade have created a challenging environment for the medical center to continue its current operations, according to a Sept. 14 news release from the Sisters of Charity Health System. The statement notes that the increased demand for outpatient care, declining inpatient volume, and the growth of telehealth, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, placed additional financial pressure on the hospital.
Sisters of Charity Health System President and CEO Janice Murphy said the reduction in services and the transition to ambulatory care place the hospital on a financially sustainable path forward despite the significant and ongoing changes in healthcare.
The transition is expected to be complete on Nov. 15. At that point, the hospital will offer the following ambulatory care:
- Outpatient mental health services
- provision of addiction medicine services through Rosary Hall
- Primary care, internal medicine and specialty clinics
- Urgent care
The hospital currently employs 1,442 people, according to a report from Cleveland.com. Medical residents have been invited to move to University Hospitals, and University Hospitals plan to conduct job fairs for St. Vincent healthcare workers and other employees seeking new jobs, according to the report.
The reduction in services follows University Hospitals' July announcement regarding inpatient care at two other Cuyahoga County hospitals in Richmond Heights, Ohio, and Bedford, Ohio. Furthermore, the hospital is located in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood near downtown and had a net loss of $14.5 million against revenue of $414 million last year, according to the American Hospital Directory.