Essent Healthcare, Nashville, said it plans to shift all acute-care services to the north campus of its two-campus, 228-bed Paris (Texas) Regional Medical Center. The transition will be completed by fall 2010 with the help of the Camden Group, a consulting firm, and a steering committee of physicians and employees, Essent said. Some services, such as post-acute, psychiatric or rehabilitation, will be housed at the south campus, along with some support services, such as human resources or accounting, an Essent spokeswoman said.
Essent purchased the two campuses from Christus Health, Irving, Texas, in 2004, and has invested $23 million in them, including the opening of a heart hospital on the north campus. When Christus first announced its intention to sell the hospitals, it cited physician and community resistance to consolidating services after it bought the only competitor to its Christus St. Joseph's Hospital in 2001. Christus said the hospitals lost $12.4 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003.
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