09/24/2025
Announcement - Hunt Regional Healthcare and the Hunt Memorial Hospital District Board have been earnestly weighing options to remedy our current financial position in efforts to provide comprehensive local medical care now and into the future. As a not-for-profit, independent hospital system, our mission is to provide quality healthcare in a compassionate environment that strengthens our community.
As previously expressed, increasing supply and labor costs, the growing number of uninsured patients, and declining payments from insurance companies and government payers have stretched the organization financially. Our organization has recently made difficult changes and reduced costs to navigate the current challenges affecting rural and rural-adjacent health systems, including our own. Earlier this year, Hunt Regional laid off 43 employees and streamlined vendors to reduce costs. In addition, efficiencies in billing, coding, and insurance processing continue to be fine-tuned to receive a greater portion of compensation for patient care already provided. Current operations continue to be evaluated, and partnership offers are being vetted in Royse City.
On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the citizen-elected representatives of the Hunt Memorial Hospital District Board of Directors made the difficult decision to discontinue ER services in Commerce and Quinlan. This decision will save over $15 million annually in direct operating expenses associated with the two freestanding emergency rooms. For years, the HMHD has absorbed the financial losses incurred by our freestanding emergency departments. Emergency facilities require 24-hour physician staffing, special equipment, supplies, and medications. We can no longer afford to cover these losses and still offer the breadth of inpatient and outpatient services at our hospital in Greenville.
Hunt Regional Urgent Care in Commerce, along with six other current Hunt Regional Urgent Care locations, is open seven days a week and available to care for minor injuries and illnesses. Additionally, Hunt Regional will open an urgent care clinic in Quinlan in the near future. Hunt County EMS will continue to bring 9-1-1 patients in need of trauma care to Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville or other facilities as warranted by severity. These emergency department closures will be effective at 7:00 pm on September 30, 2025.
