Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center and the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center have announced the purchase of Ashley Clinic by the medical center.
Ashley Clinic offices in Chanute, Iola and Humboldt will remain open.
The clinics had been under the umbrella of the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center. The Ashley Clinic in Yates Center will close, according to Patricia Morris, NMRMC Communications Director.
“After reviewing patient usage and provider availability,” the decision to close the Yates Center clinic “was mainly due to low patient volume, which indicated that long-term operations would be unsustainable,” Morris said in an email.
Holly Jerome, human resources and marketing director for SEKMC, said the mental health center will continue to operate out of its Yates Center office.
As part of the transition in Chanute, the hospital will purchase the Ashley Clinic building. The hospital’s clinic will combine its services with those of Ashley Clinic and its Convenient Care Clinic under the umbrella of NMRMC Family Medicine Clinic and operate out of the Ashley Clinic building at 505 S. Plummer Ave., beginning June 1.
“By joining together, we’re able to strengthen our services,” said Wendy Brazil, CEO of the Chanute hospital. “Operating as NMRMC Family Medicine Clinic maintains continuity of service and avoids re-certifying a new medical practice with regulatory agencies and insurance companies which can be a long and arduous process.”
The transition excludes the acquisition of the clinics’ business operations, such as accounts receivable, billing, or other business functions.
The transition of operations in Iola and Humboldt is effective May 28. Many of the providers and staff members will remain in place. In Iola, Timothy Spears, DO, and Leigh Scharff, APRN-C, will remain, and in Humboldt, Kelli Eccles, APRN-C, Robert Thomen, MD, and Kathi Yokum, APRN-C, will remain on staff.
The clinics will be closed Thursday, May 28 and Friday, May 29, to enact the transitions, with the Convenient Care Clinic in Chanute remaining open.
