Sequatchie County's Only Emergency Room Closing

People who have a health emergency in Sequatchie County will have to drive about 40 minutes to the nearest emergency room starting Sept. 1.

Grandview Medical Center announced Wednesday that the North Valley Medical Plaza emergency room will close in September and become an urgent care clinic.

Grandview owns North Valley and said it's strictly a business decision. But when minutes matter, and lives are on the line, people we spoke with in Sequatchie County say "business" shouldn't matter.

"I think it's stupid," said resident Harvey Caupp. "We need more and they're taking away and getting less."

Caupp says the North Valley ER helped save his life.

"I just barely made it there before they got me on the medication I needed," he said.

But Caupp and everyone else who needs an ER, will now have to go to Grandview in Jasper or Erlanger in Bledsoe or Hamilton Counties, trips that can add up to 40 minutes to see a doctor in an emergency.

Dr. Debbie Daniel's private practice, which is attached to the emergency room, is staying open. Daniel said Wednesday that nothing on that end will change except figuring out where to send her patients who've got an emergency.

"I'm not going to come up with a plan until I know what they're actually doing," Daniel said.

In a statement, Grandview told us the ER will become an urgent care clinic with extended hours starting Sept. 1. That means ambulances can no longer bring patients there. Sequatchie County EMS Director Danny Smith estimates an entire emergency call will now take about two hours.

Grandview said the bad economy is the biggest reason for restructuring. They said North Valley's ER is set to lose $1 million dollars this year.

There is no immediate word on how many jobs this affects. Sequatchie County will still have Life Force helicopter service for extreme trauma cases.

Read Grandview's entire statement on North Valley's restructuring below:

Media Statement Regarding North Valley Medical Plaza

From Bruce A. Baldwin, CEO, Grandview Medical Center, Parent facility of North Valley

Since 1994, North Valley Medical Plaza has provided the Dunlap and Sequatchie County communities with quality emergency medical services.

In these challenging economic times, however, it has become increasingly difficult for North Valley Medical Plaza to sustain a positive level of operation because of the combination of declining reimbursement rates, skyrocketing unemployment and the rising number of uninsured. Despite our best efforts to enhance revenues and decrease expenses, the financial situation continues to decline at an increasing rate. As it stands today, North Valley is projected to lose almost $1 million in 2010.

We want to keep providing great health care to Dunlap and Sequatchie County residents. However,the current financial situation cannot continue. North Valley is still a business and must live within its means.

After carefully exploring all of our options, we have made the decision to convert North Valley Medical Plaza from a 24-hour emergency department to an urgent care medical clinic with extended hours, effective September 1. The new clinic will be open to patients seven days a week, from 9a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and from 1 p.m. - 9 p.m. on Sunday.

By making this change, we hope to continue to be able to provide quality medical services to Dunlap and Sequatchie County for years to come.

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