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Southwest hospital to close July 15 |
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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
Southwest Regional Medical Center in the Otter Creek area announced Thursday that the hospital will be closing at midnight July 15.
The medical office building adjacent to the hospital will remain open for business as usual, hospital officials said.
In a news release, Nancy Fodi, chief executive officer of the hospital, said the decision to close the hospital was a difficult one.
“Unfortunately, Southwest Regional Medical Center continues to operate at a significant financial loss that necessitates its closure,” Fodi said.
She added that hospital officials will work with the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services in the coming weeks to assist employees with the transition into other employment opportunities.
“I thank the dedicated employees and physicians for their steadfast commitment to serving the health care needs of the residents of Little Rock and the surrounding communities,” Fodi said.
Southwest is at 11401 Interstate 30, near the Saline-Pulaski county line.
Adam Signer, director of business development for the hospital, said he could not add any information to Fodi’s prepared statement. “We’ll probably have more to release in a few days,” he said.
Signer said he does not know how many employees remain at the hospital. “That information is not available now,” he said.
Employees were informed Thursday of the decision to close the facility, Sigler said.
A number of Southwest employees, who were expecting the hospital to be sold or to undergo major changes, already have left for other employment, another source said.
Southwest is owned by Health Management Associates, which is based in Naples, Fla.
An attempt was made to obtain a comment from Randy Fortner, chief executive officer of Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton, about what effect Southwest’s closing will have on SMH. However, Fortner is on an Alaskan cruise, a hospital spokesperson said.
Several possible buyouts of Southwest were rumored, including a recent one that Baptist Health Medical Center would acquire the facility, but none of the rumors materialized.
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