CLEVELAND (WJW) — St. Vincent Charity Medical Center’s emergency department in downtown Cleveland is closing four days earlier than planned. Here’s what you need to know.
The facility along East 22nd Street was scheduled to close Tuesday, Nov. 15. But since so many employees have transitioned to other positions since the closure was announced, the last day for emergency and inpatient services has been bumped up to Friday, Nov. 11, according to a news release.
“Patient safety is our number one priority,” reads a release.
Anyone needing emergency services should call 911, it states.
How is St. Vincent Medical Charity Center changing?
The facility is expected to retain about 100 caregivers as it transitions from offering acute care to offering only outpatient services and ambulatory care, including:
- Outpatient mental health services
- Addiction medicine services through Rosary Hall
- Primary care, internal medicine and specialty clinics
- Urgent care
It will also retain its psychiatric emergency department and services, but under a new name: Psychiatric Emergency Services at St. Vincent Charity Community Health Center.
As Sisters of Charity Health System announced in September, the facility is being reimagined as “a vibrant hub that promotes holistic health and wellness through health care and services that address the social determinants of health.”
Will the closure create a gap in care for the community?
The closure isn’t expected to create a gap in care, hospital leadership said. Most of the care received at St. Vincent’s emergency department has been urgent care that didn’t require inpatient stays, according to a release.
Those who experience medical emergencies should call 911. There are four emergency departments within 5 miles of the facility:
- University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, 11100 Euclid Ave.
- Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, 9105 Cedar Ave., E Building
- MetroHealth Medical Center, 2500 Metrohealth Drive
- Lutheran Hospital, 1730 W. 25th St.
What about trauma care like heart attacks, strokes or gunshot wounds?
St. Vincent Charity Medical Center hasn’t operated a trauma center for some time, hospital leadership said.
EMS providers instead transport patients needing serious trauma care to MetroHealth or University Hospitals, they said.
