Maryvale hospital to close on Dec. 18, Abrazo announces

Abrazo Community Health Network will close its Maryvale hospital in December, citing a decline in demand for care at the West Phoenix facility.

The Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare-owned hospital, located at 51st and Campbell avenues, will not admit any patients after Dec. 1 and will be closed to emergency visits on Dec. 18. The hospital handles about 43,000 emergency room visits each year. 

“Over the past several years Abrazo Maryvale has experienced a significant decline in community demand for its services,” Frank Molinaro, market CEO of Abrazo Community Health Network, said in a statement.

Hospital officials said there are four other acute-care hospitals within a six-mile radius and 11 urgent care centers within five miles that neighborhood residents can visit.

Abrazo had reduced services at the Maryvale campus in recent years and months, closing its birthing center in 2015. In May, the West Phoenix hospital became a satellite facility of the Abrazo West Campus located in Goodyear.

The Maryvale closing will affect 300 employees, but those in good standing will be offered positions at other Abrazo properties. Abrazo has five other hospitals in metro Phoenix, as well as emergency room-only facilities, urgent care centers and physician practices. The nearest Abrazo-owned hospitals include the former Phoenix Baptist hospital, located at 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, and the Abrazo West Campus in Goodyear.

Although there are other health-care options in the neighborhood, the closing will be a blow to the Maryvale community, according to community leaders.

"I am deeply saddened that the hospital is closing," said Arizona Rep. Richard C. Andrade, whose district includes Maryvale. "They have been a pillar in the community for several years."

Although there are urgent care options near the hospital, Andrade will urge Abrazo to evaluate what medical services are essential to the neighborhood and ensure those health needs are met. 

Abrazo said it has been in discussions with unidentified parties who could potentially reuse the Maryvale campus for other health-related services. 

Health-care analysts said the hospital industry overall faces financial headwinds, with uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act and private insurers steering patients away from more expensive hospital care and toward outpatient services such as urgent care centers.

Furthermore, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, one of the nation's largest investor-owned hospital chains, has faced its own financial challenges. The company's top executive announced earlier this year that he would step down March 2018, or earlier if a successor is found.

Older hospitals such as Maryvale have a difficult time competing with newer facilities outfitted with the latest medical equipment and located in more affluent neighborhoods 

"This doesn't surprise me at all," said Scott Cain, a Phoenix-based consultant. "It is certainly challenging from a competition standpoint. It has been there a long time and I'm sure it doesn't compare" to modern hospitals.

Cain added that private insurers increasingly are adopting reimbursement strategies that encourage patients to seek care at outpatient facilities rather than acute-care hospitals.

 "Hospitals are reacting to what's happening to them," Cain said. 

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