Chicago-based Ascension Saint Elizabeth will close and be repurposed as a community asset.
ASCs continue to be affected by hospital closures in their markets.
"ASCs will have the ability to pick up additional service lines, potentially boosting revenue, as hospitals continue to shutter services," Elaina Turner, RN, administrator of New Albany, Ind.-based Commonwealth Pain and Spine, told Becker's. "However, not all service lines will be appropriate additions to the ASC… Hospitals will continue to shutter services that are no longer profitable, but ASCs should use caution in implementing new service lines and ensure that staff and providers are trained in those procedures and that the physical space is appropriate for those service lines."
Here are five things to know about the closure:
1. The closure comes as Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare plans to acquire the hospital and eight other Midwest Ascension hospitals in the first quarter of 2025.
2. "After prayerful discernment and extensive review of historical data, Ascension concluded that the patient community served by Ascension Saint Elizabeth can be better served by repurposing the hospital as a more valuable community resource; one that is able to address a broader spectrum of community needs," a spokesperson said in a joint statement shared with Becker's from Prime and St. Louis-based Ascension. "Prime agreed with Ascension’s assessment and we have committed to advancing that goal."
3. Ascension Saint Elizabeth is a critical care hospital that provides heart, cancer, orthopedics, stroke care and women's health services and 24/7 emergency care, among other services.
4. While the spokesperson did not provide a closure date for the hospital, they said the system plans to offer affected employees positions at other facilities.
5. Prime Healthcare entered into an asset purchase agreement on July 25 with Ascension to acquire the hospitals. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Once finalized, the acquisition will be the largest in the history of Prime, which operates 44 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient locations in 14 states.