Hurst, Texas-based Cook Children's Northeast Hospital will close April 20 and reopen as an ambulatory surgical center May 1 — a move that will eliminate approximately 150 jobs, according to the Star-Telegram.
Cook Children's officials chose to convert the hospital into an ASC because it no longer hit the inpatient stay census outlined by new federal guidelines. The hospital's average inpatient daily census in 2017 was .001 and in 2018, the census is zero. The new guidelines call for an average daily census of two.
"With this information, it was clear to us we needed to make some difficult decisions in order to continue to provide quality medical service to that community," Winifred King, a spokesperson for Cook Children's told the Star-Telegram.
When the hospital closes in April, the hospital will no longer offer emergency services or inpatient care.
Ms. King told the Star-Telegram that employees who lost their jobs as a result of the change "are strongly encouraged" to apply for open positions at other Cook Children's facilities "and are being given every consideration."
The facility will be renamed Cook Children's Surgery Center.