Saint Luke’s closing a third Johnson County facility. It had been open just two years
The Saint Luke’s South Radiation Therapy Center in Overland Park will close on Dec. 31, the third Johnson County outpost the Saint Luke’s Health System will close this year.
The center opened in 2018 at 6427 W. 119th St. in the Fountains shopping area. The hospital did not say how many patients and employees will be affected. Patients are being notified this week.
“Our goal with this consolidation is to provide an even more seamless patient experience across the region,” hospital officials said in a statement.
This comes after Saint Luke’s announced last month it will close two of its community hospitals in Johnson County, also in December.
Those locations, also in Overland Park — at 75th Street and Metcalf Avenue, and 159th Street and U.S. 69 — are scheduled to close Dec. 30.
Saint Luke’s is just one of several local health systems that in recent years have moved “micro-hospitals,” free-standing emergency rooms and other services into growing Johnson County.
AdventHealth, The University of Kansas Hospital, Olathe Medical Center and HCA Midwest Health have all recently expanded operations there. But in some cases, the traffic has slowed.
“Overall, our community hospital model has performed remarkably well, and has allowed us to effectively expand access in a critical segment of our market,” Bobby Olm-Shipman, Saint Luke’s south and east region CEO, said in a statement last month when announcing the closure of the community hospitals.
“However, two of our locations have seen lower patient volumes since opening, and as we look at ways to provide care while operating as efficiently as possible during this challenging time, we have made the decision to close these two locations.”
Saint Luke’s opened community hospitals in 2018 to relieve overcrowding and long wait times at emergency rooms, and give patients access to inpatient care closer to home.
The health system also announced in June that it was closing Saint Luke’s Cushing Hospital in Leavenworth, citing financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Five of its other community hospitals remain open — in Leawood, Olathe, Roeland Park, Shawnee and at The Legends in Wyandotte County.
Patients at the radiation center in Overland Park who have appointments scheduled after Dec. 31 will be sent for treatments at one of the hospital’s three other radiation therapy centers, hospital officials said.
They are on the Saint Luke’s Hospital campus, at Saint Luke’s East campus in Lee’s Summit, and on the Liberty Hospital campus in Liberty
Staff will be eligible to take new positions at the other radiation therapy locations, or in other parts of the health system, hospital officials said.
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