491-bed Ohio hospital to shutter ER ahead of looming full closure

Dayton, Ohio-based Good Samaritan Hospital is scheduled to close its emergency room at 12 p.m. July 19, with the facility's full closure to take place four days later, the Dayton Daily News reports.

Dayton-based Premier Health, the hospital's parent company, revealed plans to close the 491-bed facility in January, stating Good Samaritan has been operating below capacity for some time and noting the high costs of maintaining an out-of-date facility. Officials also contend the services offered at Good Samaritan are also available at another Premier Health hospital in the same city.

A group of clergy filed a complaint with HHS' Office of Civil Rights in May arguing the hospital's closure will "have a discriminatory and separate adverse impact on African Americans and women" and violate the ACA's Civil Rights Act, according to a second report from the Dayton Daily News.

The complaint states residents for whom Good Samaritan is the closest hospital are 75 percent African-American, and its closure would dramatically affect those patients' options for medical care.

HHS announced July 16 it had opened an investigation into the hospital's closure. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley publicly called on Premier Health July 17 to delay the demolition of the hospital until after the agency completes its investigation.

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