ONEIDA, Tenn. — An Oneida emergency room that closed suddenly due to staffing issues is expected to reopen Thursday evening at 7 p.m., according to Hal Leftwich, the CEO of Big South Fork Medical Center.
The emergency room closed on Monday after Leftwich said the hospital could not hire any physicians to work in the emergency room, so it was closed at midnight. He said the emergency room was on diversion, and it had previously recruited doctors from Kentucky, Louisiana and beyond to help fill shifts.
The closest hospitals to Scott County were North Knoxville Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge, LaFollette Medical Center or Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Kentucky. All are at least 50 minutes from Oneida.
Florida-based Rennova owns the hospital in Scott County. The group owned hospitals in Jamestown in Fentress County and Jellico in Campbell County. Rennova "temporarily closed" the hospital in Jamestown in 2019. That hospital has remained closed. Rennova closed its hospital in Jellico in 2021.
Leftwich previously said he did not expect the emergency room to permanently close, and said he has been regular with payments to doctors and staff.