Shriners Hospital for Children –– Tampa (Fla.) will transition its services to focus on outpatient care beginning in August, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Five notes:
1. With 20 hospitals across the country, Shriners Tampa will be one of five Shriners hospitals with a new focus on outpatient services. "As healthcare needs have changed, especially in pediatric care, we've found less of a need for hospital care," Mel Bower, a spokesperson for the hospital told the Tampa Bay Times. "Our facility is seeing fewer patients who need this kind of complex care."
2. While some hospital employees will face layoffs due to the shift in services, Shriners Tampa has not released the number of employees who will be affected. The hospital has not issued layoff notices with the state.
3. Patients who need complex care will be transferred to Shriners hospitals in Shreveport, La., and Greensville, S.C.
4. This is not the first time Shriners has considered making changes in services. In 2018, the hospital considered consolidating burn care at numerous hospitals. And in 2009, the organization considered hospitals closing due to withering endowments.
5. Shriners Tampa is a 60-bed, acute care hospital that specializes in treating patients with orthopedic conditions as well as scoliosis and spine issues. Since opening, the hospital has treated more than 50,000 children.