In a news release, Flint River Hospital CEO Philip Eastman III said the ER will be converted into a crisis stabilization unit. The hospital will also create an urgent care unit.
Mr. Eastman said the independent, 50-bed hospital was no longer able to keep its ER open due to lagging volumes within the rural community.
Rural hospitals in Georgia have been hit hard in 2013. Last month, Charlton Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Folkston, closed its doors, becoming the third rural Georgia hospital to shut down operations this year. Calhoun Memorial Hospital in Arlington closed in February, and Stewart-Webster Hospital in Richland shut down in March.
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