Judge upholds ruling that Franciscan Health may not close its ER in Hammond, Indiana
CROWN POINT, Ind. (CBS) -- A judge has upheld a ruling that Franciscan Health may not shut down its hospital in Hammond, Indiana in at the end of the year as planned.
Franciscan Health announced in November that it planned to end in-patient services and its emergency department, effective Saturday, Dec. 31.
The City of Hammond filed a lawsuit, pointing out that the hospital had said last year that it planned to downsize – but keep its emergency department open. The hospital at the time also said it planned to maintain a limited number of hospital beds for short stays, as well as imaging and lab services wound care, dialysis, prenatal care, and primary care.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said because Franciscan Health did not plan to close its emergency department, the city did not take action to find alternative options for emergency services, court documents said.
But 18 months later – with no communication in the intervening period – the hospital said it was closing its emergency department after all, court documents said. The mayor called this an "absolute betrayal," and said it would damage health care coverage in Northwest Indiana and nearby parts of Illinois.
Lake County, Indiana Superior Court Judge Bruce Parent and issued an injunction a week ago forbidding the hospital from closing.
On Wednesday, the hospital asked the court to reconsider an earlier ruling that they stay open another nine months.
The hospital's chief executive officer says the facility lacks basic services to renew their license, which expires on Sunday.
On Thursday, Judge Parent rejected the hospital's motion for a stay on the injunction – insisting that it cannot operate safely and must close. The judge called the hospital's claim "untestable, largely unprovable, and certainly not proven here."
In November, Franciscan Health had said it still plans to operate several clinics at the Hammond campus, but in-patient and emergency services were to be cut because of a dwindling number of patients and a shortage of workers.
Franciscan has already begun work to demolish the hospital.
