MOULTON, Ala, (WHNT) — Lawrence Medical Center will be officially shutting down its emergency department in May, the Huntsville Hospital Health System announced on Tuesday.
According to the announcement, the official shutdown will come at 7 p.m. on May 7.
HHHS partnered with the medical center back in February with intentions to shut down inpatient care and close the facility’s emergency department, allowing them to modernize outpatient facilities. Local tax resources currently used to support the medical center operations are going to be used to create a fund to build a new and modern outpatient facility.
The facility will continue providing outpatient services, including outpatient imaging, EKG, lab, respiratory, and physical therapy, will continue to be provided by Huntsville Hospital Health at the facility.
“HH Health will lead Lawrence Medical Center in a new direction as we focus our resources on expanding high-quality outpatient care,” Lawrence Board Chairman Gary Terry said.
Officials with HHHS said that ER employees at Lawrence Medical Center impacted by the closure of emergency services will be offered opportunities elsewhere in the HH Health System.
HHHS CEO and President Jeff Samz said that the medical center and the system have finalized a forty-year lease agreement, which shifts the financial accountability and operational control to HHHS.
“In time, we believe that building new outpatient facilities will benefit the residents of Lawrence County much more than the situation today,” said Samz.
Board members with LMC alluded to a financial crisis back in October forcing them to face do-or-die decisions.
Terry also said that some of LMC’s ER physicians would now be working shifts at Lawrence’s Urgent Care on Highway 157 in Moulton.
Terry added that he wants to make sure people in the area know they “can still rely on Lawrence Medical Center for outpatient services at the current hospital campus and in LMC’s clinics. Our staff is dedicated, loyal and wants to continue to serve you.”
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