“It is part of UHS’ original charter to care for the indigent population of Bexar County,” Steward said in a statement. The company argues that as a public health organization, University Health System has an obligation to care for those in need, and notes that UHS receives $472 million in local aid while paying no taxes.įurther, Steward says University Health System can afford to take over the facility, since UHS is building another hospital in an area where residents have higher incomes. Now, Steward says it has asked University Health System and Bexar County to take over the struggling hospital. “Nearly one quarter of the hospital’s patients cannot and do not pay for the services the hospital provides,” Steward says. More than half of the hospital’s patients rely on government assistance for healthcare, so the hospital is paid less than the cost of patient care, Steward says. Steward says the medical center supports a population with limited resources. Steward attributed some of the medical center’s struggles to being “choked out by the well-heeled ‘public’ hospital competitor across town.” Steward was able and willing to assume financial losses and risks during that extraordinary public health crisis it is not sustainable to do so any longer,” Steward said in the release. “The COVID-19 pandemic further placed a significant fiscal burden on TVMC. In a news release outlining the plans to close the hospital, Steward says it can no longer continue to operate the facility. Steward took over Texas Vista Medical Center in 2017 and said the hospital has struggled financially for years. Given that TVMC is a significant provider of behavioral health care in the region, other hospitals will immediately see an increase in behavioral health patients at a time when that system is already strained.” “We offer critical emergency care and OB/GYN care for the San Antonio area. “TVMC does not want to close, and the consequences of our closure will cause an immediate public health crisis for the city’s most vulnerable patients,” Turton said. Jon Turton, president of Texas Vista Medical Center, said the hospital’s closure would deprive residents of essential services and add to the burdens of surrounding hospitals. The announced hospital closure is a loss for the South Side and our city as a whole.”

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg told KSAT-TV that “any loss of access to health care – particularly in underserved portions of our community – is concerning.

Meanwhile, local officials are worried about the looming closure of a hospital that offers care for an underserved population. Steward is calling on University Health System and local officials to take over the hospital, which doesn't appear likely.īoth Steward and University Health System are offering sharp criticism of each other over the situation. Steward Health Care, the for-profit company that operates the San Antonio hospital, says it’s no longer sustainable to operate the medical center. Unless there is some kind of intervention, the Texas Vista Medical Center is going to shut its doors on May 1.

Steward healthcare logo png