Warsaw, N.Y.-based Wyoming County Community Health System will close its dialysis clinic in Morris, N.Y., due to ongoing financial losses and staffing challenges.
The clinic opened in 2022 and has six chairs in the Livingston County Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation; however, it has faced recruitment and retention issues for trained dialysis employees, according to a Nov. 5 news release shared with Becker's.
The clinic has also lost more than $2 million in county funding since 2022. WCCHS submitted a closure plan to the New York State Department of Health and will help existing dialysis patients find treatment elsewhere.
"Operating a small dialysis clinic in a rural location has proven to be extremely challenging," David Kobis, CEO of WCCHS, said in the release. "Finding and retaining sufficient qualified staff to ensure safe patient care is our most critical priority. To compound matters the reimbursement for the clinic is not sufficient to cover operating costs."."
WCCHS comprises a 25-bed critical access hospital, a 138-bed skilled nursing facility, more than 10 primary and specialty care physician clinics and a 10-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, the release said.