FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP) - A new operator plans to reopen a south-central Arizona hospital that closed in June due to financial struggles.
The Casa Grande Dispatch reports that Dallas-based Steward Health Care officials told the Florence City Council on Monday that it will reopen the former Florence Hospital at Anthem in early 2019 as "Florence Hospital, A Campus of Mountain Vista Medical Center."
Steward currently operates hospitals in nine states, including several in the Phoenix area.
Company officials said Florence Hospital will have a 24-hour emergency room but that patients with higher needs will be transferred to Mountain Vista Medical in Mesa.
According to Steward officials, they hope to expand Mountain Vista's service area while holding back competitors from taking over the service area.
Florence is 79 miles southeast of Phoenix.
