MetroHealth System announced Monday it will close six outpatient facilities as part of an ongoing effort to stabilize its finances.
The locations, all to close Friday, are: Broadview Heights Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy; the Dental Clinic at Old Brooklyn Medical Center; Medina Health Center; Rocky River Medical Offices; State Road Family Practice in North Royalton; and Westlake Physical Therapy at the West Shore Family YMCA.
MetroHealth said services at the sites are duplicated elsewhere in the system, and that by consolidating it could extend hours at other facilities.
“Any organization, especially one facing financial challenges, must constantly look at ways to operate more efficiently,” MetroHealth CEO and President Christine Alexander said in a statement.
The hospital system said employees working at the closing locations will be reassigned to other facilities and patients will be notified if their provider moves to a different site.
The closures are the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures for MetroHealth, which has faced rising expenses tied to an increasing number of uninsured patients and uncertainty about the future of Medicaid funding. In July, the system laid off about 125 workers, mostly in administrative positions.
Meanwhile, the system is continuing with plans to open an Outpatient Health Center with a 24/7 drive-through pharmacy at its main campus in Cleveland early next year.
MetroHealth Board of Trustees Chair Dr. E. Harry Walker said in a statement that leaders were right to downsize the number of system facilities, given the financial pressures affecting the health care industry.
"MetroHealth faces uncertainty about future funding for its core mission,” Dr. Walker said. “It is imperative to act now so that we can protect our ability to care for our patients."
