Clear this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 61F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Clear this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 61F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Updated: March 25, 2023 @ 8:43 pm
ECU Health announced Wednesday it would close five clinics and a behavioral health unit.
Contributed photoECU Health is closing five clinics, including Snow Hill and Williamston locations, and its inpatient behavioral health unit after losing $46 million during the 2022 fiscal year, according to a news release.
The clinics are expected to close by last March. The health system said it “will use various communications channels” to provide details about the closures, including sending a letter to the home address listed in patients’ records by the end of March, the release said.
The $46 million loss equaled an operating margin of 2%, the release said. It’s mainly due to having a “disproportionate number of uninsured or underinsured patients” and the cost of travel staff.
“These decisions were made following a detailed review of patient census, nearby availability of similar services and staffing realities,” the release stated. “Importantly, the health system will work closely with patients to transition care to nearby locations.”
The clinics being closed are:
The health system also announced it is closing its ECU Health North Hospital Inpatient Behavioral Health in Roanoke Rapids.
The release said the unit was scheduled to close when a new behavioral health hospital opened in Greenville in 2025. An ongoing national labor shortage accelerated the closure, which goes into effect on Feb. 25.
The beds in the unit will be transitioned to the 144-bed behavioral health hospital that will be operated by Acadia Healthcare in partnership with ECU Health.
The release said the 22 people working in the behavioral health unit will receive assistance identifying “roles within the health system for which they are interested and qualified.”
The hospital said patients will continue to have access to inpatient behavioral health care at ECU Health Medical Center, ECU Health Roanoke-Chowan Hospital and other non-ECU Health locations. ECU Health North will work with patients and referrers as a result of this transition.
ECU Health North also will continue to evaluate patients in the emergency department for placement, or in need of inpatient behavioral health care.
The closures, combined with other cost-saving initiatives, are necessary to respond to the current states of health care nationally and statewide, according to the release.
“ECU Health continues to be vocal in its advocacy for funding programs such as Medicaid expansion and the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, as well as other state and federal resources that are part of the solution to stabilize health care in rural communities,” the release stated.
“While ECU Health is cautiously optimistic one or both of these programs may come to fruition later this year, the health system must continue to evolve and optimize operations to ensure it is able to meet its mission now and into the future,” said Brian Floyd, president of ECU Health Medical Center and chief operating officer of ECU Health.
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