In about a month, downtown Escondido will be losing one of its emergency rooms.
Palomar Health announced it is closing the standby emergency room at its downtown Escondido hospital, located at 555 East Valley Parkway, on March 14.
Until then, emergency care will be available, and no other services at the hospital will be closing at this point.
Last summer, the Palomar Health Board of Directors voted to completely close the 66-year-old downtown hospital, saying the facility is losing more than $20 million a year.
Hospital officials said they are working with other community health centers, many located within a mile of the closing emergency room, to prepare residents for the change.
“As we near March 14, it is also important that community members familiarize themselves with the local health centers in their area and where they should go for care,” said Frank Beirne, executive vice president of operations at Palomar Health, in a statement.
Borrego Health is planning to help fill the emergency services gap. On March 14, the Centro Medico Escondido will open an urgent care and expand other service hours. The center is located at 1121 E. Washington Avenue. While appointments will be preferred, officials said walk-ins will also be available at the urgent care.
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Ambulances and law enforcement have stopped delivering patients to the downtown Palomar hospital, so the majority of patients treated at the emergency room are those who are not crucially ill or injured, Palomar Health said. Most are also arriving during regular business hours, which they hope will help make an easy transition to other health centers.
Once the emergency room is closed, its birth center, acute rehabilitation and behavior health services will remain open until further notice. If an emergency arises with an inpatient, a physician-led rapid response team will be available. A transport team will also be on hand 24/7 to transfer current patients to an emergency room if needed.
Other services relocated from the downtown campus include outpatient surgery, which moved to the Palomar Medical Center and Pomerado Hospital, and the sleep center and outpatient rehabilitation, which went to the Palomar San Marcos Health Center.
