Baptist Health to close more Fort Smith services, cut 150 jobs

Little Rock-based Baptist Health announced to Fort Smith hospital and clinic employees on Wednesday (April 29) that it will over the next 60 days close several clinics and services, resulting in the loss of 150 jobs, including 10 physicians. The move follows an announced closure of labor and delivery services.

In the announcement, Baptist said it has lost $127 million since acquiring the hospital in 2018.

“This deficit is projected to grow this year, driven by a combination of declining hospital reimbursements and continued cost pressures across our operations,” noted the employee letter. “Beyond these annual losses, we also face the critical need for extensive, multiyear facility improvements to ensure our physical plant remains viable for the long term.”

The letter said Baptist is “reiterating our commitment” to several key services. Those are the emergency department, operating room, medical-surgical nursing and “low acuity” intensive care unit beds, geriatric psychiatry, and radiology services.

But services and departments closing are significant. Inpatient services closing are infectious disease services, nephrology, oncology, and pulmonary. Clinics closing are cardiology, pediatric, neurology, infectious disease, renal, and oncology.

Baptist also said it does not have any changes planned for its Van Buren hospital. Hospital officials also announced that Jeff Carrier, western region president for Baptist, is leaving. Brandi Stewart will be the interim president along with being the chief nursing officer for the western region.

“To ensure Baptist Health remains in Western Region, we are transitioning to a more focused, sustainable care model,” noted the employee letter. “After an extensive strategic review of our operational footprint, and in the interest of ensuring long-term sustainability and strength of our health care system, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to accelerate our plans to close some services and units. This means concentrating our resources on the core services that the community needs and utilizes most.”

Concerns about the future of Baptist Health in Fort Smith began in late March. Doug Weeks, Baptist Health executive vice president, chief strategy and innovation officer, spoke on March 20 to members of a Fort Smith civic club and several physicians about the hospital’s future. According to those who attended the meeting and meeting minutes, Weeks said the hospital could halt hospital operations in its two large towers and use only the newer “Renaissance” building for emergency room and limited surgery center operations.

Baptist officials have asserted that the hospital will not fully close, saying they plan to spend $20 million at the Fort Smith location “over the next few years,” and the investment is part of a “transition of its Fort Smith campus.” In Wednesday’s letter, the hospital system again stressed it is not leaving Fort Smith.

“The hospital is not closing,” the letter noted. “By stabilizing our foundation now, we stop the cycle of unsustainable losses and create a platform from which we can eventually grow and even add services back. To ensure we remain a permanent part of the River Valley, we must become smaller and stronger, prioritizing the efficient use of our existing assets and resources rather than incurring significant new levels of debt. Like many organizations we continually evaluate our services and operational needs, including volumes, to ensure we’re aligned with current conditions.”

Fort Smith Director Christina Catsavis, who has been a critic of how Baptist has handled the process and has called for more community notice of critical health care service closures, asked Baptist to extend the time before closing services. She provided the following statement to Talk Business & Politics.

“My heart goes out to the dedicated providers losing their positions and to the families in the River Valley who will face reduced access to critical healthcare services. While Baptist Health frames these changes as a necessary cost-saving measure, as a nonprofit with tax-exempt status, the organization has a heightened responsibility to reinvest in its facilities, services, and the communities it serves. The mission of healthcare is ultimately about saving lives, not just balancing the books. The offered 60-day paid notice and severance package meets a basic standard, but in this situation it falls short of what these long-serving professionals deserve. Individuals who have dedicated their careers to caring for others should receive more robust support during transition. I urge Baptist Health to extend this to a minimum of 180 days — a standard I am also advocating at the state level for major service line closures.”