SLCH Emergency Room to Close on January 12

CORNWALL – The emergency department at the Cornwall campus of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital is closing its doors for good at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, January 12.
Hospital officials announced last month they were going to shutter that department in Cornwall and handle all emergency cases from that point on at their Newburgh campus, five miles to the north.
Officials have said they are closing down that function in Cornwall because it is highly underutilized and costing the hospital money it cannot afford to spend in the current healthcare climate.
All local and Orange County EMS have been notified to cease ambulance services to the Cornwall campus beginning at 12:01 a.m. on January 12. Individuals in need of emergency care thereafter are asked to use the Newburgh ER or an alternative location.
An ambulance will be stationed outside the Cornwall emergency department for seven days following the closure.
To accommodate the additional patients expected at the Newburgh campus emergency room, the hospital has expanded services to included increasing the ER’s fast track hours, which allows for triage of less emergency case. That service will now be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Valet parking has also been added for ER patients and visitors from 5 pm. To 7 a.m.