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Tag: Providence Health – Fairfield

  • MUSC purchases Fairfield Providence ER, Providence NE

    WINNSBORO – The Fairfield Providence Emergency Room awoke to a new name on Monday. It will now be called MUSC Health Fairfield Emergency and Imaging.

    The purchase of the Fairfield health care facility in June was part of a $75 million dollar deal in which the Medical University of South Carolina purchased four health care facilities in the midlands. 

    The Charleston-based MUSC is rebranding each of those facilities with new names.

    On Monday, ceremonies were held at each of the hospitals, which will now be known as:

    • MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Downtown (formerly Providence Health on Forest Drive in Columbia)
    • MUSC Health Columbia Medical Center Northeast (formerly Providence Health Northeast on Corporate Boulevard in Columbia)
    • MUSC Health Fairfield Emergency and Imaging (formerly Providence Health — Fairfield in Winnsboro)
    • MUSC Health Kershaw Medical Center (formerly KershawHealth in Camden)

    The Providence sale includes the hospital’s main campus — on Forest Drive – plus its 74-bed full-service hospital near Farrow Road and I-77 and its Winnsboro emergency room that opened in 2018.

    The acquisition by MUSC gives the health care system a larger footprint in South Carolina and in the Midlands region, where it will join Prisma Health and Lexington Medical Center.

    “Incorporating them into our regional hospital network is another step toward fulfilling MUSC’s charge: to provide the right care in the right place at the right time to every patient and family that we encounter,” Dr. Patrick J. Cawley, the CEO of MUSC Health and vice president for health affairs for the medical university, said during opening ceremonies at the Fairfield facility on Monday.

    Cawley said the 2,000 LifePoint Health employees at the hospitals were offered to stay once MUSC took control, the Post and Courier reported.

    The MUSC medical school includes a teaching hospital along with six colleges that, combined, have more than 1,800 faculty members who educate and train around 3,000 students and 800 residents each year.

    MUSC, one of the oldest medical schools in the South, was founded in 1824 as a small private college.

    MUSC doctors and other dignitaries traveled to each of the four newly purchased facilities for ceremonies to speak to the change and what MUSC will bring to each community where these four facilities are located.

    Joining them in Fairfield were Dr. Roger Gaddy, an MUSC alum and primary care physician in Fairfield for the last 40 years, Mayor John McMeekin, and Fairfield County School Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green.

    Also speaking were Dr. James Lemon, chairman of the MUSC board, Dr. David Cole, president of MUSC and Dr. Patrick J. Cawley, CEO of MUSC Health and vice president for health affairs.

    “We are all seeing a transformation across health care,” Cawley told the 50 or sitting under a tent in front of Fairfield’s emergency facility. “This transformation is upon us. It is being demanded by patients, by families and by those who pay for health care. They are demaning high quality care in its broadest definition – some of what Dr. Gaddy mentioned to us today.

    “We’re also looking for health care to be less expensive. We at MUSC fully embrace that,” Cawley said. “We know that quality health care is about safety, effectiveness, efficiency, equity and patient consideration. We want to be part of that transformation. But more than that, we want to lead that transformation. That’s who we are.”

    Dr. David Cole, MUSC president, said one of the goals of MUSC is to “improve the lives of those we touch in the communities we serve.

    “We do that,” he said, “by working with the communities and by putting a plan together to deliver whatever care that community needs – from primary care to specialty care. That’s what we do.”

    Cawley told the audience that, as a not for profit organization, “We will invest our resources back into the community. We are leaders, innovators and educators. We are community focused and that’s what MUSC promises.”

    Mayor John McMeekin said, on behalf of the community, that he is very thankful to have the number one hospital in South Carolina now in Fairfield County.

    Also attending from Fairfield County were County Councilman Clarence Gilbert, Midlands Tech President Ron Rhame, former board member for Fairfield Memorial Hospital Randy Bright, Interim County Administrator Brad Caulder, Winnsboro Community Services Director Chris Clausen and Fairfield resident Karen Chapman who is the Public Relations Director at MUSC Lancaster.

    From left, Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green; Dr. James Lemon, Chairman of the MUSC Board; Dr. Patrick J Cawley, CEO of MUSC Health; Dr. David Cole, President of MUSC, Dr. Roger Gaddy and Mayor John McMeekin
    • Lebanon resident and PR Director for MUSC at Lancaster Karen Chapman
    • Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin
    • Dr. Roger Gaddy
    County Councilman Clarence Gilbert, Randy Bright and MTC president Ron Rhames

    A chance meeting of doctor & patient 11 years later

    WINNSBORO – When Fairfield County’s Interim County Administrator Brad Caulder received a phone call Tuesday morning to be at a ceremony at the Fairfield Providence Emergency Room where MUSC hospital officials were to celebrate MUSC’s purchase of the ER, he got in his car and drove over.

    Brad Caulder and Dr. David Zaas

    Little did he expect for the event to reunite him with the doctor who had, 11 years ago, helped prepare Caulder for a double lung transplant – a lifesaving procedure – at Duke Medical Center in Raleigh.

    Dr. David Zaas, who for 20 years was an integral part of the lung transplant program at Duke, is now CEO for the MUSC Health Charleston Division, Chief Clinical Officer for MUSC Health and an associate professor of medicine at MUSC.

    After bumping into each other unexpectedly during the ceremony, both expressed surprise and happiness at seeing each other again after the many years since Caulder’s transplant.

    “It was a nice surprise,” Zaas said. “Especially after 11 years. I had the privilege of being his pulmonologist prior to the transplant to help prepare him for the surgery,” Zaas said.  “I was part of the team that oversaw his health care over about four years.”

    Zaas became part of the MUSC system just over a year ago, he told The Voice.  

    “It brought back a lot of memories,” Caulder said. “It was really nice to see him again.”

  • County, Providence mend rift on ER sale

    WINNSBORO  – A resolution passed by Fairfield County Council Monday night has headed off a rift that developed between the county and Providence Health over Prisma’s proposed purchase of Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room.

    Following Prisma Health’s surprise announcement in March that it had signed a deal to acquire the ER along with three other Midlands hospitals, Fairfield County officials – not having been informed of the sale – requested the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which signed off on the deal, to pump the brakes on the proposed purchase agreement.

    The county’s concerns were numerous – foremost was their concern about the continued delivery of quality health care for Fairfield residents. The county was also concerned about the effect the sale would have on its financial investment in the ER – $10 million the county had agreed to pay Providence over 10 years to be used for operation of the ER as well as $4 million the county had been required to escrow as assurance those ten $1 million payments would be made.

    Fairfield County and (the former) Fairfield Memorial Hospital questioned the legality of the DHEC staff’s approval of an amended Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) that cemented the deal between Prisma and Providence Health.

    Through its attorneys, the county formally requested in March that DHEC conduct a final review of the decision that allowed Prisma Health to acquire the four health care facilities.

    A resolution passed Monday evening by Fairfield County Council and agreed to by Providence appears to have alleviated the county’s concerns by authorizing an amendment to the original transformational agreement (between Fairfield and Providence Health) in which both Fairfield and Providence agree that if Prisma does carry through with the purchase of the ER in Winnsboro, Prisma will return $3.5 million of the cash currently held in escrow, back to the county. The remaining $500K balance of the escrow will then be credited to the county’s next $1 million annual payment (which is paid quarterly).  In return for that financial concession, the resolution states that the county agrees to withdraw the appeal it has before the South Carolina administrative law court and then, going forward, to provide support in favor of Prisma’s acquisition of Providence.

    “Everything else stays in place – negotiated term of providing care to the citizens, keeping the ER open, indigent care issues and other things,” County Attorney Tommy Morgan said.

    “That’s all good news,” Council Chairman Neil Robinson said before gaveling the meeting to a close.

    “The material change to benefit the county,” County Administrator Jason Taylor told The Voice, “is that the $3.5 million we had tied up in escrow is now back in the general fund for our use, and our residents will continue to receive quality health care through the ER.”

  • Fairfield officials say ER sale was flawed; call for review by DHEC

    WINNSBORO  – Following Prisma Health’s surprise announcement last week that it had signed a deal to acquire Providence Health – Fairfield Emergency Room (ER) along with three other hospitals, Fairfield County officials have requested the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which signed off on the deal, to pump the brakes on the proposed purchase agreement.

    The county is joined by requests from three other governments of Camden (KershawHealth), Columbia (Providence Hospital) and Richland County (Providence Northeast) along with Lexington County.

    In a letter dated March 13, Fairfield County, through its attorneys, Bruner, Powell, Wall and Mullins, LLC, formally requested DHEC to conduct a final review of the decision that allowed Prisma Health to acquire the four health care facilities, documents obtained by The Voice state.

    Fairfield County and (the former) Fairfield Memorial Hospital are questioning the legality of the DHEC staff’s approval of an amended Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) that cemented the deal between Prisma and Providence Health, according to the request.

     “Grounds for this request,” the letter states, “are that DHEC’s proposed decision regarding the amendments to the Prisma Health COPA is in error as a matter of law and unsupported factually in numerous respects.”

    Among other things, the letter states that DHEC “failed to publish notice of receipt of the request in the State Register and failed to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation that the application was complete and otherwise provide notice to affected persons of the rights to request a public hearing. Indeed, Fairfield County and Fairfield Memorial Hospital were not made aware of the proposed transaction or the efforts to modify the COPA until the staff decision was issued on February 28 modifying the COPA and Prisma published its press release announcing the agreement to acquire the assets of Kershaw Health and Providence Health [hospitals].

    “To this date, Fairfield County is not privy to the details of the proposed transaction and the information contained in DHEC’s file that would reflect the potential benefits or disadvantages to the citizens of Fairfield County,” the letter states.

    “Upon review of the entire DHEC file,” the letter states, “…the [DHEC] Board should overturn the staff decision and remand the matter to the DHEC staff for a full, open and fair review…to include a directive for compliance with the public notice requirements and opportunity for public comment and hearing as provided by statute.”

    Fairfield County has raised financial considerations as well.

    Fairfield and Providence have a deal in which the county agreed to provide $1 million a year for 10 years to Providence Health to be used solely for the use and operation of the Providence Health Fairfield ER.

    Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor said the county had expected to receive about $250,000 in property taxes a year from Providence, revenue that would likely disappear now since, he said, county officials have been told that Prisma operates as a non-profit.

    When contacted Monday afternoon about Fairfield’s request for a review, DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said via email that she was “focused on COVID-19,” and deferred comment to another spokesperson who wasn’t made available as of press time.

    Prisma says the acquisition will provide the Greenville-based health provider with “new opportunities to advance the delivery of accessible high-quality care in communities across the regions it serves,” a news release said.

    “Providence and KershawHealth are known to share our commitment to improving patient experiences, clinical quality and access to care,” Mark O’Halla, president and chief executive officer of Prisma, said in the release. “We look forward to continuing our mutual goal of enhancing the health of our communities.”

    Taylor said the Prisma deal injects uncertainty into residents’ future access to healthcare, and injecting uncertainty during a pandemic is a prescription for disaster, he said.

    “Any uncertainty in healthcare lately is not a welcome development,” Taylor said. “With the coronavirus, we do not need to be uncertain about the status of healthcare in the county.”

    Taylor said county officials have a lot of questions that need to be answered.

    “That’s why we’re asking for this slowdown,” Taylor said. “Fairfield County and all the impacted communities around us, we need to have certainty that we’re going to have medical coverage for our citizens.

    “We should have had the ability to input. We want that and to know how the sale is going to affect us,” Taylor said.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this story.

  • Saving Lives

    WINNSBORO – Approximately 10 health care vendors were available on Saturday at the Free Fairfield County Health Fair, sponsored by U.S. Congressman Ralph Norman at the Fairfield County Parks and Recreation Center from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

    Representing Providence Health’s new ER facility in Winnsboro were, from left: registered nurses Arlene Vance and Robin Gilbert, who are shown above providing information and mini first aid kits to Jarvis Ballinger, Trista Davis and Saya Lyles. Doctors, nurses and other health care personnel were on hand to take blood pressure, conduct other health screenings and dispense nutritional and dietary advice.

    EMS Paramedics Natalie Rhodes and Christy Claytor and intern Mia Shami gave tours of an EMS truck and explained various pieces of life-saving equipment. | Photos: Barbara Ball

  • Providence Health-Fairfield ER opens

    After a grand opening for the community (above) on Dec. 13, the new Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room on Tuesday.

    WINNSBORO – As the baton passed from Fairfield Memorial Hospital (FMH) to Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room on Tuesday, citizens in Fairfield County were not without health care service for a minute. As FMH officially closed its doors forever, the county’s new ER opened its doors the same day to a new world of state-of-the-art emergency health care for Fairfield County.

    The opening of Providence Health’s emergency room comes after almost three years of planning and cooperation between the FMH board and administration, Fairfield County administrative staff and Providence Health and legislative intervention from the county’s former State Sen. Creighton Coleman and former State Rep. MaryGail Douglas.

    And there could be more good news to come as the FMH board continues to market (through ROI Commercial out of Columbia) the available 25-bed hospital building for another health care entity.

    The new ER facility, located across from Bi-Lo, near the intersection of US 321 and Highway 34, includes 12,000-square-feet for emergency services, featuring six exam rooms (including four treatment rooms and two for future expansion), two trauma rooms, an onsite laboratory, imaging services such as computerized tomography (CT) scan, ultrasound and x-ray.

    An additional 6,000 square feet of space is available for future expansion of services as needs in the community are identified.

    If the new facility to provide continuity of health care in the Fairfield community was a long time coming, some close to the project say it is a modern miracle that it came at all as hundreds of other rural hospitals have closed in recent years, three of those in South Carolina. But for the infusion of millions of dollars from the county in recent years, Fairfield Memorial might have shuttered much earlier.

    Funded by $12M from LifePoint Health for construction of the new facility and $10M ($1M a year for the next 10 years) from Fairfield County, the free standing Providence Health ER was also made possible in part by nearly $4M in transformational funding from South Carolina’s Hospital Transformation Program which supports rural access to healthcare resources.

    Those transformational dollars, appropriated by the legislature, are earmarked to go to large hospitals like Providence to encourage them to partner with rural hospitals that are in danger of closing. Because talks between the hospital and Providence were still in the early stages as the deadline for application for the funds loomed, it was through the significant efforts of Coleman and Douglas that the house and senate extended the application deadline for the Providence project.

    “This Emergency Room is a shining example of what can occur when multiple organizations work together to do what’s right for the community,” Providence-Northeast Hospital CEO Lindy White said in a statement on Tuesday. “The new facility will serve the county’s patients during their times of greatest need and, at the same time, keep them close to home.

    “It is a blessing and an honor,” White said, “to serve such a welcoming part of the country.”

  • Winnsboro’s new ER hosts Open House Dec. 13

    WINNSBORO – The public will get their first peek inside the new Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room next week – Thursday, Nov, 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. – when officials hold an open house with a ribbon cutting and tours of the new facility.

    Located at 1810 US Hwy 321 S, across the street from the Winnsboro Bi-Lo, the state-of-the-art Emergency Room will open for business later this month.

    Officials with Providence stated that the new facility will provide Fairfield County with quick and easy access to round-the-clock, high-quality emergency care.

    The County contracted with Providence to construct and operate the facility after plans were initiated to   close Fairfield Memorial Hospital earlier this year. Closing date for the hospital is Dec. 18.

    “This facility was designed to include everything that we need to provide efficient and safe emergency care,” Providence Health-Northeast CEO said.

    The building includes four treatment rooms with two pre-constructed additional exam rooms for future expansion. It also includes two trauma rooms and an onsite full service laboratory for the fast return of blood work results.

    The facility also has a top-of-the-line CT scan, an ultrasound and x-ray technology to facilitate quick access to the diagnostic information needed for emergency care.

    The structure is laid out in a horseshoe shape so patients can feel the progress of their visit as they move through the facility, White pointed out. In the center of the horseshoe is a large, open nursing station keeping the staff in close range to all parts of the patient journey.

    “We gave careful consideration to patient comfort such as the use of natural light and high ceilings,” White said. “We wanted to provide a healing environment for our patients, families, and staff.

    “The ambulance entry for the facility leads directly to the nurses’ station so that care can be delivered as quickly as possible for the most emergent cases,” White said. “Directly next to the ambulance entrance are two large trauma bays that will provide ample space and supplies to ensure that staff has, at their fingertips, whatever tool is needed to provide the complex care required for more serious cases.”

    White said the trauma rooms in the new facility are some of the nicest ones she’s seen in her experience with emergency care.

    “The facility itself is somewhat of a futuristic layout in terms of how we can best meet the emergency needs of the community,” White added.

    The structure also includes 6,000 square feet of shell space to achieve future needs as they are determined.

    White said the emergency room’s location, easily accessible near the intersection of Highways 321 and 34, is key to providing quality care to the community.

    “The facility’s close proximity to the Providence Health-Northeast community hospital provides the added benefit of fast-track access for patients who need to be transferred for more advanced care,” White added.

  • County inches closer to hospital property purchase

    WINNSBORO—As Fairfield Memorial Hospital prepares to close its doors, Fairfield County is moving forward with plans to acquire some of the hospital property.

    On Monday night, council members voted unanimously to present a memorandum of understanding to Fairfield Memorial to purchase “some or all” of the property.

    No dollar amounts were mentioned, though the motion said a price would be determined at a later date based on the fair market value.

    The property must also be unencumbered by liens or other attachments to the title, according to the motion.

    Council Chairman Billy Smith previously has said the properties of interest to the county were appraised at about $1.9 million including the rehab center, and $1.6 million without the center.

    Smith has also said the hospital has a lien of about $400,000 against it from the S.C. Department of Revenue. The lien would have to be cleared up according to the terms of the county’s memorandum of understanding.

    Applauding the vote was Laura Willingham, director of the hospital’s rehabilitation center.

    “We’re very thankful that the county has stepped in,” she said. “I think that was pretty much going to happen. The county was behind us, and we’re thankful for that.”

    At the May council meeting, Willingham spoke openly about issues concerning hospital finances and the treatment of employees.

    Willingham said she ran into no repercussions for speaking her mind.

    “I feel like the residents of Fairfield County deserve to have rehab here. They need it,” she said. “It needs to stay here in the county.

    Fairfield Memorial’s board of trustees discussed the county’s memorandum in executive session at its meeting Tuesday.

    No decisions were made and while trustees said they couldn’t discuss specifics, they said the discussions with Fairfield County have been highly positive.

    “It was an important board meeting for us,” said Catherine Fantry, chairwoman of the hospital board. “We received information from the board in a positive manner.”

    Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting, there was extensive discussion about hospital finances and plans for disposing of assets. An executive from Providence Health also gave a presentation about the healthcare provider’s plans for Fairfield County.

    Trustee Randy Bright asked several questions concerning Fairfield Memorial’s transition action plan, specifically staffing as well as how the hospital’s assets would be disposed.

    Darlene Hines, the hospital’s chief operating officer, said some employees may leave before the hospital closes later this year. Others may be offered positions with Providence Health, she said.

    “We’re keeping track of every employee that we have here,” Hines said, adding that the hospital was also tracking its leadership structure as well.

    Bright asked about patient rooms. Hines said the hospital still has to keep the facility’s 25 beds to comply with licensing requirements.

    Later in the meeting, Joseph Bernard with Providence Health provided a general timetable for construction of its Fairfield County facility at the bypass across from Bi-Lo.

    Bernard said Providence anticipates advertising for positions in the coming days, possibly into early July.

    Construction, he said, should be completed in November with a grand opening of the emergency room possible by mid-December.

    “Everything remains on track as far as we’re concerned,” Bernard said.

    Related:  Council makes offer to FMH,  Board to list hospital for sale,  Council wraps up budget requests, Providence, County break ground for ER

     

     

  • Providence, County break ground for ER

    Breaking ground for the new Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room are: Bertha Goins, Vice Chairman of Fairfield County Council; Dr. Roger Gaddy, Fairfield Memorial Hospital Chief of Staff and Mayor of Winnsboro; Susie VanHuss, Chair Board of Trustees Providence Health; Scott Campbell, Market CEO, Providence Health; Catherine Fantry, Fairfield Memorial Hospital Board Chair; MaryGail K. Douglas, Representative District 41; Victor Giovanetti, President Eastern Group LifePoint Health; J.R. Green, PhD, Superintendent of Fairfield County School, Providence Health Board of Trustees Member; Mike Tanner, Director Emergency Medical Services, Upper Midlands Rural Health Network; Suzy Doscher, Fairfield Memorial Hospital CEO; Dr. Cale Davis, Carolina Care; Mark Hood, President and CEO Hood Construction. | Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – Ground was broken Feb. 15 for the new Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room that will be located on the corner across from BI-Lo Shopping Center at 1810 US Highway 321 Bypass in Winnsboro. Approximately 100 county, town, health care and community officials attended the ceremony and gathered to watch the first dig marking the beginning of construction of the facility.

    Exterior rendering of Providence Health – Fairfield Emergency Room

    “We are proud to collaborate with Fairfield Memorial Hospital (FMH) and Fairfield County to preserve critical access to emergency care for residents of this community,” Scott Campbell, Market Chief Executive Officer of Providence Health, said in opening remarks at the invitation-only event. “This new facility will allow you to have access to 24/7 care from board certified emergency room specialists, and we’re excited about that. This Emergency Room will help transform the delivery of local healthcare services to a sustainable model that better meets the needs of this area.” Campbell said.

    The new emergency room will be approximately 20 miles away from Providence Health’s Northeast hospital campus where patients needing more intensive care can be quickly transferred.

    Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy, who serves a Chief of Staff at Fairfield Memorial Hospital and has been on staff at the hospital since 1979, addressed the crowd, reminiscing how, as a young intern, he was recruited to Fairfield County 40 years ago by current fellow FMH Board member William Tuner who was then serving on Fairfield County Council. Gaddy expressed his appreciation to the County, to Providence Health and its partner, LifePoint Health, for bringing the new emergency room to Fairfield.

    “It’s a great day for Fairfield County,” Gaddy told those gathered.

    Interior rendering of Emergency Room in Fairfield County

    The one-level, 18,000-square-foot building will dedicate 12,000 square feet to emergency services and include 6,000 additional square feet of space for future expansion. Plans for the facility include: six exam rooms (including four treatment rooms and two for future expansion), two trauma rooms, an onsite laboratory and imaging services such as a CT scann, ultrasound and x-ray.

    County Council budgets $1.2 million annually to support FMH’s emergency room, and it passed a resolution in May, 2017, stating that it would continue to financially support FMH’s emergency room operations for up to 18 months or until the new Providence emergency facility is open for business. That resolution also stated that the County will provide $1 million annually for 10 years to Providence Health in support of the new emergency room.

    The new emergency room was made possible in part by the state’s Hospital Transformation Program which supports rural access to healthcare resources and has contributed $3.9 million to this project.

    Providing rural access to health resources is a statewide initiative,” Fairfield Memorial Hospital CEO Suzanne Doscher said. “We are pleased to have found a partner that will continue to offer emergency services to the residents of Fairfield County.”

    Until the new facility opens, in-patient hospital and emergency service will continue to be offered at the FMH location. When the new ER opens, emergency services, radiology and lab services will be offered there.

    County Council Chairman Billy Smith said providence will offer employment opportunities to current FMH employees who satisfy Providence’s customary pre-employment screening requirements and are qualified for comparable positions in the new facility to the extent that these positions are available.

    Smith emphasized that Providence Health is committed to providing needed emergency care to all of Fairfield’s residents and that it has a charity care policy that provides support for community members who lack the ability to pay for needed healthcare services.

    Construction on the new emergency room is expected to be completed in the fall of this year.

  • Providence to break ground on new ER

    WINNSBORO – The construction of the new emergency services facility for Fairfield County and North Richland is about to begin. The ground breaking for the new Providence Health – Fairfield Emergency Room will be held Feb. 15 on property located across the Highway 321 Bypass from the Winnsboro Bi-Lo.

    Plans for the one-level, 17,700 square foot facility call for 12,700 square feet to be dedicated to emergency services, a triage room to properly access the emergent need for care, four exam rooms, two trauma rooms, two entrances – one for walk-in patients and one for ambulances –  a laboratory, and computerized tomography (CT) scan equipment. The remaining 5,000 square feet will be used for future expansion.

    According to a Providence hospital representative, the emergency service facility is expected to be completed this fall.

    While attending the Fairfield Memorial Hospital board meeting in January, Scott Campbell, Market Chief Executive Officer of Providence Health, was asked by FMH board trustee James McGraw about the ability of Providence Hospital Northeast to handle patients who might be coming from Fairfield County.

    “We have added 24-hour cardiology services there (at Providence Northeast) … we opened the ICU back up, we have a general surgeon starting there and a urologist starting there next month,” Campbell told him. “We are going to have a different level of services that previously were not available.”