Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health permanently closed the emergency department at its hospital in Travelers Rest, S.C., the system said Nov. 5.
The ED at North Greenville Hospital had been temporarily closed since April 5, when Prisma converted the hospital into its primary inpatient facility for COVID-19 patients in Upstate South Carolina.
Prisma Health cited underutilization of the ED for its decision to permanently close it.
The health system said when the ED was open, it saw an average of less than one patient every two hours, and about 90 percent of those patients could have been treated in a physician's office or an urgent care setting instead of the ED.
"As we reviewed community use of the overall hospital, we realized that the overwhelming need in the Travelers Rest community was for additional primary care options which could provide better ongoing care for that vibrant community and also help make significant inroads for additional preventive care," said C. Wendell James, MD, chief clinical officer for Prisma Health-Upstate.
This summer, Prisma Health opened a walk-in urgent care clinic next to the hospital.