CATHOLIC HEALTH PARTNERS
By June 1, Community Mercy Health Partners of Springfield, Ohio, will close an eldercare facility it operates in Springfield. It is assisting its 65 residents in transitioning to other long-term care campuses.
Community Mercy administrators said that Mercy St. John's Center is outmoded and has struggled financially for five years. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement have amplified the strain.
The administrators noted that the Ohio Department of Health has said that Clark County, Ohio, where the center is located, has too many long-term care beds.
The closure of Mercy St. John's will enable Community Mercy to reinvest in its other long-term care facilities in the region, including Oakwood Village in Springfield; Mercy McAuley Center in Urbana, Ohio; and Mercy Siena Retirement Community in Dayton, Ohio, system administrators said.
Community Mercy is supporting Mercy St. John's residents with social services as they move to other facilities, including those run by Community Mercy. That system also is helping Mercy St. John's staff members — there are about 120 — to find positions at other Community Mercy facilities.
Mercy St. John's closure is part of the transition of a campus that also included a full-service hospital. That hospital and another Community Mercy hospital were replaced with a new facility that opened in November on another campus. Springfield's Wittenberg University has expressed an interest in the Mercy St. John's campus.
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