Money Problems Force Dallas Hospital to Close
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 1:18 pm
Dallas, Texas (KTVT CBS 11) - One of the oldest operating hospitals in Dallas shut its doors Tuesday night. The Dallas Southwest Medical Center abruptly closed transferring patients to other facilities or sent home.
This medical center has struggled with financial stability for years. The board of directors shut it down Tuesday because there wasn't enough money to pay its 200 employees.
The closure came with little advance notice. Families were still bringing children for care. The only activity inside was employees moving equipment, many of them packing up their belongings.
The signs on the front door give notice of a temporary suspension of service. But the Dallas Southwest Medical Center is closed...with no indication the hospital will ever re-open.
Mary Ann Digman is with Southwest. “They found their revenues were not meeting their expenses, and we knew it would be the better thing to do, to temporarily close, get a handle on our financial circumstances. We didn't want employees taking care of patients, if we weren't sure we could pay employees.”
The medical center was licensed to operate just over one hundred beds. At least 20-patients still housed in the hospital 24-hours ago were transferred to other area hospitals.
Dr. Larry Lundy has used Dallas Southwest Medical for the past 30 years.
“It’s going to be a hardship on the patient. We know have to transfer them to saint Paul or Methodist central, or surgical centers, but I thought this was ideal for the community when they first moved here.”
The medical center is owned and operated by the Oak Cliff Medical Foundation...a coalition of local doctors.
Some of those doctors were seeing patients today...inside offices sitting next to the hospital that is now closed.
They call this shut down "temporary" because the board is looking at options that could get the hospital operating again.
This medical center has struggled with financial stability for years. The board of directors shut it down Tuesday because there wasn't enough money to pay its 200 employees.
The closure came with little advance notice. Families were still bringing children for care. The only activity inside was employees moving equipment, many of them packing up their belongings.
The signs on the front door give notice of a temporary suspension of service. But the Dallas Southwest Medical Center is closed...with no indication the hospital will ever re-open.
Mary Ann Digman is with Southwest. “They found their revenues were not meeting their expenses, and we knew it would be the better thing to do, to temporarily close, get a handle on our financial circumstances. We didn't want employees taking care of patients, if we weren't sure we could pay employees.”
The medical center was licensed to operate just over one hundred beds. At least 20-patients still housed in the hospital 24-hours ago were transferred to other area hospitals.
Dr. Larry Lundy has used Dallas Southwest Medical for the past 30 years.
“It’s going to be a hardship on the patient. We know have to transfer them to saint Paul or Methodist central, or surgical centers, but I thought this was ideal for the community when they first moved here.”
The medical center is owned and operated by the Oak Cliff Medical Foundation...a coalition of local doctors.
Some of those doctors were seeing patients today...inside offices sitting next to the hospital that is now closed.
They call this shut down "temporary" because the board is looking at options that could get the hospital operating again.