Freestanding Emergency Rooms Suddenly Close In Amarillo

Talk about the worst time for this to happen in Amarillo. As we embark upon the holidays, we have a tendency to see an increase in trips to the ER or urgent cares. Injuries in the kitchen (yes, they happen often), injuries from hanging up Christmas decorations on the roof.

These are the times in which we want every option available to us to take care of those things quickly. Unfortunately, there are going to be a few less places to be able to get into quickly when those injuries arise.

Get our free mobile app

Northwest Texas Healthcare System’s Freestanding Emergency Departments have had to shut their doors, at least for the time being. It's all stemming from pay disputes with the physicians that do work there.

The emergency physicians say they haven't been paid for their work in seven weeks, and that has caused them to stop doing work for them. Without the physicians there, it makes it impossible to give care.

Because of these locations shutting down, it's putting a strain on the main ER at the hospital which is increasing wait times and creating far more traffic than they're prepared to handle.

It doesn't stop there as it's impacting the employees that work at the hospital and the freestanding emergency room. Some employees are being asked to work in different areas they don't normally work in, and some are even being asked to just take PTO.

To make things worse, employees are saying that if the situation isn't resolved soon, it could lead to a potential strike. So stay tuned as this could get very interesting and impact a lot of us.