Today CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial officials assumed operations of Altus Emergency Center, the free-standing ER located next to Walmart and Sam’s Club. The facility will now be called the CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Emergency Center.
“It’s a great day for healthcare in our community. It is an exciting time as we get to announce a new partnership with Altus,” said Monte Bostwick, CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Market CEO. “Our overriding mission for us is to provide the very best healthcare that we can for our community. This is another resource that we are going to put in play that is going to help us to deliver on that mission. …In all facets for us, we are extremely excited about this opportunity and to provide this service for the community.”
For the past several months, the leadership of CHI St. Luke’s Health conducted due diligence to ensure a smooth transition for all involved. New CHI St. Luke’s Health signage will be going up at the facility soon, and all current Altus staff has become CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial employees.
“We are moving outside our traditional hospital walls in new, innovative ways. Assuming operations of Altus ER allows us to provide quality health care in a variety of locations to a variety of people,” said Shawn Barnett, CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Market COO and Lufkin President.
The new hospital-based CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Emergency Center will be the only free-standing emergency room in East Texas that can accept all contracted commercial plans (in-network versus out-of-network), Medicare and Medicaid.
“Altus wanted to ensure that all the Lufkin community could be seen at the freestanding ER – from grandparents to grandkids,” said Kevin Herrington, President of Altus Emergency Centers. “Partnering with CHI now allows these options unlike any other freestanding ER in the community.”
Herrington also stated, “Confusing bills are a big concern to patients who use freestanding ERs. Now with CHI, there will be no more concern if the patient was billed correctly or if their insurance covered their care or not. CHI contracts allow this location to be in network with insurance companies as well as accepting Medicare and Medicaid.”
Patients who need more specialized care will be transferred to the hospital’s main campus where a team of specialists are available 24/7 providing a higher level of care for the patients, when and if needed. CHI is committed to providing the full spectrum of continuation of care to all the patients that visit the freestanding ER.
“The delivery of health care is rapidly changing, and we are evolving to meet the greater needs of our community,” said Barnett. “Today, people are looking for faster, more convenient service. We want to provide Lufkin with high quality care – inside and out of the hospital.
“We look forward to this exciting opportunity to provide a broader range of emergency services, help alleviate wait times at our main emergency department, and help build healthier communities which is our ultimate purpose in being here,” he added.
