Marshall, Mo.-based Fitzgibbon Hospital will close two primary care clinics, effective Dec. 31, as a part of a larger cut to certain services.
The hospital will also close an inpatient behavioral health unit and Fitzgibbon Home Health and Hospice services. The hospital is cutting services in an effort to save more than $2 million annually at a time of “unprecedented economic headwinds” for rural hospitals in the state, according to a Dec. 1 news release.
“Fitzgibbon is not unlike many other rural hospitals in Missouri in that the cost of providing care is not covered by the reimbursements we receive,” Angy Littrell, president and CEO of Fitzgibbon, said in the release. “We’ve been operating at significant losses since the COVID shutdown, due to inflation, increased staffing costs and reimbursements from governmental payers that fall short. These cost-reduction measures are absolutely necessary to meet the obligations of our fiduciary lenders and bondholders, and to ensure continued operations at the hospital.”
The service cuts and clinic closures include Brunswick, Mo.-based Grand River Medical Clinic, Fayette, Mo.-based Fitzgibbon Family Health, the hospital’s 10-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, Fitzgibbon Home Health and Hospice in Marshall, and pain clinic services provided by Wally Ralston, DNP, which will have an option for 90-day care continuation.
