Ruston Regional Specialty Hospital closing

Ruston Regional Specialty Hospital is closing effective at midnight Jan. 31. The announcement was made this morning by Priority Hospital Group Chief Executive Officer Mark Rice.

The move puts 70 people out of work. Regional is a 59-bed, long-term, acute-care hospital.

PHG owns and operates Ruston Regional. Hospital employees were told of the pending closure this morning.

“This announcement will bring cessation to patient care after patients currently in the hospital are either discharged or transferred to the PHG hospital in Monroe,” Rice said in an announcement released this morning.

He blamed the closure on lack of patients.

“It is unfortunate, but Ruston Regional has no option but to close. There simply are not enough patients. The realities of the U.S. health care system cannot be denied. Too many hospitals in small and rural markets are on the cusp of survival; most particularly, specialty hospitals in small markets such as Ruston where there are no major medical centers to serve as referring facilities,” Rice said.

He said expenses have also increased.

“The hospital just cannot achieve the level of financial performance required to sustain operations. The Ruston market is too small to support a specialty hospital like Ruston Regional under current healthcare realities and local market dynamics,” Rice said. “Ruston residents can still travel to Monroe to obtain LTCH services, which is good considering services will still be available to Ruston residents, but no doubt less convenient now that families will have to drive to Monroe for quality LTCH services.”

This is a developing story.