Dear Citizens of Orange County:
Baptist Orange Hospital has proudly served the community since 1957 as a 99-bed acute care facility. Over the past several years, a number of factors have converged to cause a significant change today in the delivery of healthcare to our neighbors.
After eleven years of financial losses, the Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Board of Directors has determined that Baptist Orange Hospital is no longer sustainable as an inpatient healthcare facility. Baptist Orange will continue to provide high-quality emergency services to the community including lab and state-of-the-art imaging services such as EKG/EEG, CT Scans, MRI, an OP Infusion Clinic, Pharmacy and a Sleep Center. Beginning Monday, June 1, 2015 all other inpatient healthcare services will be referred to Baptist Beaumont Hospital healthcare facilities.
Baptist Orange Hospital has operated at an average loss of $1.8 million annually for the last eleven years due to the following factors:
- Continued decline in patient demand over the past decade. Today, Baptist Orange averages about eight patient beds filled on a daily basis of the 112 licensed beds available.
- Continued reductions Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. Texas has declined to expand Medicaid, and Baptist Orange has been particularly hard hit by this decline in revenue.
- The loss of Orange Disproportionate Share funding (DSH) forced Baptist Orange to discontinue its obstetric services in 2013. Subsidies have been significantly reduced since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. At the time of the bill’s passage, health officials assumed that millions of uninsured Americans would gain coverage through the new law, but that has not been the case.
- Lack of medical specialists. Low patient demand has forced many physician practices to close and relocate.
- Unable to qualify as a Rural Health Hospital or a Critical Access Hospital which would result in receiving funding at a higher level.
Baptist Orange Emergency Department will continue to refer patients to Baptist Beaumont Hospital for specialized and inpatient care. Baptist Orange’s Emergency Department will remain open 24/7 to meet the community’s urgent and critical care needs. We will continue to partner with State and local officials to bring you the highest quality wellness and healthcare services in Southeast Texas.
Board of Directors
Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas
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