Searcy, Ark.-based Unity Health on April 15 will permanently close the emergency department and medical unit at its acute care hospital in Jacksonville, Ark., a spokesperson for the health system confirmed to Becker’s.
The closure comes just three years after the hospital opened in March 2023. Unity Health plans to convert the facility into a freestanding psychiatric hospital.
Unity Health-Jacksonville currently operates a 13-bed emergency department and 24-bed behavioral health unit, and provides a range of services including inpatient and observation care, imaging and inpatient cardiopulmonary services,
The health system did not share how many employees will be affected by the closure but said in a statement it is “working with our associates to remain in the system.”
Unity Health employs more than 2,300 people across its eight-county footprint, which includes four hospitals, 502 total beds and more than 160 physicians, according to its website.
Unity Health acquired the 125,000-square-foot facility from Shreveport, La.-based Allegiance Health Management in 2021. Allegiance spent $36 million to reopen the hospital in 2023 with 29 beds and an adult behavioral health unit.
The site previously operated as North Metro Medical Center before abruptly closing in August 2019.
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