Black River Medical Center ER to close Aug. 9 amid merger with Saint Francis

Black River Medical Center will no longer offer emergency room or in-patient hospital services following the completion of a merger in August with Saint Francis Healthcare System. The merger will also include a name change.

The emergency room is set to close at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9, according to a press release from Saint Francis. Inpatient services are scheduled to stop but the time for that had not been confirmed as of press time.

Black River officially joins Saint Francis Healthcare System on Monday, Aug. 12, when a new urgent care center will open at 225 Physicians Park Drive, Suite 400, first floor. Laboratory and radiology services will still be offered, said Christy Russell, communications coordinator.

The name of Black River Medical Center will change to Saint Francis Health Center – Poplar Bluff.

Saint Francis officials had no further comment regarding the decision to end emergency room and inpatient care.

Black River had eight in-patient hospital rooms and six emergency room patient areas as of 2016, when a $3 million expansion project was completed. The emergency room had been open four years at that time.

Black River was the realization of an effort of 29 local doctors and community members who formed Poplar Bluff Medical Partners in 2001. The group later partnered with Saint Francis.

A certificate of need was originally approved in 2011 for a three-bed hospital.

The new urgent care will offer extended walk-in hours as well as continue to provide laboratory and a full-compliment of radiology services, including diagnostic CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, mammography and ultrasound, according to a press release. It will be open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.