Greenville, N.C.-based ECU Health will close its behavioral health inpatient unit and five of its clinics following a $46 million fiscal loss in 2022, the Daily Reflector reported Jan. 25.
The health system told the publication that uninsured or underinsured patients and cost of travel staff are the main reasons for the loss.
ECU had plans to close the Roanoke Rapids, N.C., unit once a new behavioral health facility opens in Greenville, N.C., in 2025. A labor shortage sped up its closure.
The unit's 22 employees will have the opportunity to apply for different positions among the hospital's locations. Its beds will go to the new facility, a 144-bed behavioral health hospital operated by Franklin, Tenn.-based Acadia Healthcare in partnership with ECU Health.
The behavioral health unit will officially close Feb. 25.