Two of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems' hospitals — one in Pennsylvania and one in Tennessee — will close their inpatient and emergency services in July and become urgent care facilities.
Mid-Valley Hospital in Peckville, Pa., will open as Commonwealth Health Mid-Valley Outpatient Center July 1, according to a report by The Times-Tribune. The hospital plans to retain as many of its 115 employees as possible, according to the report.
Haywood Park Community Hospital in Brownsville, Tenn., will cease offering inpatient and emergency department services by July 31 and will also transition into an urgent care facility, The Jackson Sunreported. Some employees will remain at the facility, while others will be laid off and offered outplacement services and severance packages.
Both hospitals have experienced major declines in inpatient admissions recently: 25-bed Mid-Valley Hospital had fewer than 500 admissions in 2013, and 62-bed Haywood Park Community Hospital admitted an average of less than one person per day last year, according to local reports.
CEOs from both hospitals — Ann Marie Stevens from Mid-Valley and Joel Southern from Haywood Park — issued the same statement to local media. "These are challenging times for all hospitals, and we must evolve and adjust to new realities," they said.
According to The Times-Tribune, Ms. Stevens added, "Urgent care and outpatient services are the most-used at our facility, and our investment will support this community need."
Mr. Southern told The Jackson Sun, "Maintaining a full-service hospital for the current inpatient demand from acute and emergency patients is not sustainable."
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