Almost everything is in place, people hired and just a few items left to open Freeman Fort Scott Hospital and Emergency Department, at the former Mercy Hospital.
The building is owned by Kansas Renewal Institute, with Freeman and other entities leasing from them.
On August 22, local officials, community leaders, along with Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce members were invited to hear from Freeman Fort Scott Hospital leaders and take a guided tour of the newly repurposed facility at 401 Woodland Hills Boulevard to view the progress.
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lindsay Madison welcomed the Freeman staff and expressed the community’s gratitude for Freeman Hospital coming to our community.
Anita Walden, Freeman Fort Scott Hospital Chief Administrative Officer, told the attendees that the process “has been a collaborative effort with a lot of people…there are still a few minor things that need to happen.”
The community will play a vital role in supporting access to quality healthcare here by using the emergency department and the hospital for their healthcare needs, she said.
To open, three government surveys need to take place and one has taken place, on August 18.
This brings the six-bed emergency department and 10-bed acute care closer to fruition.
The multi-million-dollar project is still on track to open at the end of 2025, Freeman officials said in the press release.
To view the press release:
https://fortscott.biz/news/freeman-fort-scott-hospital-inc-achieves-significant-milestones
The Emergency Department
Dr. Mark Brown, the Freeman Fort Scott Hospital Emergency Department’s Director, is from the Coffeyville area. He will also serve as the medical staff president.
There are six beds in the emergency department, and it will have a physician 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Freeman has leased Suite A in the clinic area of the building, and Gregory King, a Family Nurse Practitioner at Freeman Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, will be housed there as soon as possible, said Anita Waldren in a group tour of the facility.
Brown told the tour group the hospital will have two nurses and one technician at all times, serving the 10-bed hospital. There will be eight semi-private and two private rooms on the medical floor.
Covering medical services at Freeman Fort Scott Hospital will be local doctors, Dr. Katrina Burke, Dr. Richard Kellenberger, and Dr. P.K. Gugnani, Walden said during the tour.
The outpatient services check-in office is located near the emergency department.
Brief History of the Community’s Health Care
Located on the city’s southside and adjacent to Hwy. 69, the facility has housed no hospital since the closing of Mercy Hospital Fort Scott in December 2018.
Mercy Hospital served the community from 1886 until 2018, and closed, citing “patients leaving the area to seek health care services in larger communities and declining reimbursement, especially from government payers, which make up the largest source of revenue,” according to Mercy’s announcement in 2018.
https://fortscott.biz/news/mercy-hospital-fort-scott-to-close
Ascension Via Christi provided an emergency department at the facility from 2019 until 2023. Their decision to close operations was “was made after a thorough analysis of trend data, patient census, and the current and future challenges and opportunities facing this facility,” according to AVC’s announcement in 2023.
The facility also houses other entities:
TFI, Foster Care and Child Welfare Services office is located on the ground level of the building as well.