St. Luke’s Medical Center In Phoenix Closing: How To Get Records

PHOENIX — St. Luke’s Medical Center, a hospital that has been a fixture in Phoenix for 100 years, will close in November after struggling financially for the last couple of years, its president said in a letter to the community.

“Despite our best efforts and substantial investment in St. Luke’s, patient demand has stayed extremely low and our facility remains significantly underutilized,” James Finn, president of the Phoenix affiliate of Dallas, Texas-based Steward Health Care System, wrote in the letter.

The hospital’s emergency room will close at 1:01 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23. Patients will either be discharged or transferred to other Steward-owned hospitals by Nov. 24.

The Phoenix hospital has an average of 70 patients a day — put another way, Finn wrote, “each night, two out of three hospital beds are empty at St. Luke’s.”

Over the past two years, St. Luke’s occupancy rate has remained below 40 percent, and emergency department visits have decreased by 16 percent, the letter said.

“The trend is clear: Many St. Luke’s patients and community members have decided to go to other health care facilities for their medical needs,” Finn wrote. “When hospital volumes decrease below critical levels, our ability to provide safe, high-quality care could be compromised.”

St. Luke’s Behavioral Health Center, a freestanding mental health hospital on the Phoenix campus, will remain open.

“Psychiatric services will remain a top service line focus at all Steward facilities in Arizona, given its importance to the community and Steward’s recognized excellence in this field,” Finn wrote.

Unaffected by the decision are three other Steward Health Care System facilities in the region — Mountain Vista Medical Center in Mesa, Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital and the newly reopened Florence Hospital.

Steward’s patient care specialists are contacting patients regarding scheduled procedures and ongoing treatments, and they’ll be moved to one of the sister hospitals, Finn wrote.

Patients can request their medical records by calling 480-784-5567 during normal business hours.

The hospital president’s letter has more information on the closing.