Eden, Texas-based Concho County Hospital received approval Jan. 27 from the Concho County Hospital District board of directors to convert to a rural emergency hospital.
The conversion now requires federal and state regulatory approval, according to a Jan. 29 news release from the hospital.
Concho County Hospital will maintain 24/7 emergency care, clinic, pharmacy, lab, imaging, physical therapy and other services on an outpatient basis as an REH. Patients with inpatient hospital stay needs will be transferred to another facility for care. However, the hospital will provide observation care for patients to determine whether hospitalization is medically necessary.
The hospital district board approved the REH transition after finding the facility had only 10 inpatient admissions last year but handled nearly 1,500 emergency visits and thousands of outpatient cases.
“When you consider that 14 rural hospitals in Texas have closed in the last 10 years and more than half of the remaining are considered at risk of closure, having the REH option is a vital lifeline for rural communities,” Julie Jones, president of the Concho County Hospital District board of directors, said in the release.
The hospital district board expects to convert to an REH by this summer, pending state and federal regulatory approval.
