Wlaf1450As Tennova Healthcare in East Tennessee proceeds with its strategic reorganization of services, growing capacity at North Knoxville Medical Center and Turkey Creek Medical Center and enhancing services at its affiliated hospitals in Jefferson City, LaFollette and Newport, the system has begun work to end operations of Physicians Regional Medical Center and Lakeway Regional Hospital by the end of this year.
All services at Physicians Regional Medical Center and Lakeway Regional Hospital will be permanently terminated as of 11:59 p.m. on December 28, 2018, subject to satisfaction of all necessary notices and regulatory requirements.
“We will work with our medical staff, patients and local EMS/first responders to ensure a smooth transition of care,” said Tony Benton, chief executive officer for Tennova Healthcare in East Tennessee. “Strengthening our network and pursuing new outpatient strategies is critical to meet the needs and preferences of today’s healthcare consumers and support the way our physician partners prefer to practice. Delivering care in facilities designed to support current medical practices will best serve our patients and the community.”
Physician practices in Morristown, Tennova General Surgery – Lakeway and Tennova Primary Care – Lakeway West, will remain open. The transition aligns local services with community usage as decreasing numbers of patients have come to Lakeway Regional Hospital in recent years. Inpatient services are less needed as medical advances allow more care to be provided in outpatient settings.
Across the Network
Multiple construction projects this year have grown capacity for services at the Powell and Farragut Tennova hospitals. Construction is continuing with completion projected for next summer.
North Knoxville Medical Center has renovated and reconfigured existing space to add cardiac catheterization laboratories and operating rooms to help accommodate cardiac care and orthopedic, general, vascular and other inpatient surgeries from Physicians Regional. Capacity for surgery and childbirth services is being added, with construction targeted to be complete next summer.
Turkey Creek Medical Center has increased the number of general medical/surgical beds, created additional operating rooms and added intensive care unit beds to accommodate increased and more complex general and cardiovascular surgical cases. Open heart surgery and neurosurgery services have been consolidated at Turkey Creek. A new cardiovascular intensive care unit is targeted to be complete in spring 2019.
Enhancements are also being made at the Tennova hospitals in Jefferson City, LaFollette and Newport to strengthen medical services and provide higher acuity care, including recruitment of more providers to practice in the communities.
Personnel
Many employees and physicians have already transitioned to North Knoxville Medical Center and Turkey Creek Medical Center as the services they provide moved from Physicians Regional. Job fairs are being held to help remaining employees identify positions at the North Knoxville and Turkey Creek medical centers, other Tennova hospitals or regional providers where their skills may be a good fit.
“Every individual employee and physician at the hospitals is valued for their unique role in caring for patients,” said Benton. “It is through their commitment that thousands of patients have received compassionate, quality care over the years.”
Winding down Physicians Regional Medical Center and Lakeway Regional Hospital will focus Tennova’s resources on enhancement of North Knoxville Medical Center and Turkey Creek Medical Center and development of new centers for services. Tennova is continuing in its work with local physician partners to pursue opportunities to develop new outpatient care sites, including the Middlebrook Pike property. The health system will announce those developments in the future as plans are finalized. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 10/26/2018-6AM)