The acute care hospital opened in 2014 and invested $200 million over the past five years on capital and operational improvements, but will shutter on Thursday after declaring bankruptcy.
Bay Area Regional Medical Center, LLC, a 104-bed, for-profit hospital owned by Medistar Corp., will file for bankruptcy and close on Thursday, less than four years after it opened, the hospital announced on its website.
"It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Bay Area Regional will close its doors on May 10, 2018," Stephen K. Jones, Jr., CEO at Bay Area Regional said.
"We want to thank our staff who worked tirelessly, physicians who chose to practice medicine and patients who received care at our hospital," Jones said.
The Webster, Texas hospital, which describes itself on its website as a "diversified, integrated multi-specialty health care delivery system," notified staff and the more than 400 physicians on its clinical staff of the closure on Friday.
The hospital said it will meet payroll for its 500 employees, and jobs fairs are underway with other hospitals in the area, which is about 25 miles southeast of Houston.
A spokesman for Houston-based Medistar, a medical real estate developer, was not available for comment.
Bay Area Regional opened on July 21, 2014 and the hospital said it invested $200 million over the past five years on capital and operational improvements. Only last year, Bay Area and Medistar announced ambitious plans to double the hospital's capacity and open new ambulatory surgery centers.
Local media report that the hospital was the subject of several lawsuits from health insurance companies and lab services providers alleging mismanagement of funds and breach of contract.
The hospital said it "continues to work with lenders on an orderly closing process, including the payment of Bay Area Regional’s payroll obligations."
John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.