By George Wiebe
Post-Tribune, Merrillville, Ind.
(TNS)
HAMMOND, Ind. — The City of Hammond filed for a temporary restraining order against Franciscan Alliance Monday afternoon, in a last-ditch effort to stop the closure of Franciscan Health Hammond’s emergency room.
Franciscan Health announced last week that the hospital would be suspending ambulance services to its Hammond location at 6 a.m. Dec. 23, as inpatient and emergency care would be redirected to its Dyer and Munster locations. The hospital is expected to close by the end of 2022.
“The goal of the restraining order [is] to keep St. Margaret’s ER open, accepting patients from across Northwest Indiana,” Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott tweeted on Monday.
The court filing claims Franciscan Health Hammond, as the primary provider of emergency healthcare to the city for the last 120 years, staying open is essential for the health and safety of residents in the surrounding area.
The Hammond Fire Department has made 27,388 patient runs — an average of 15 runs per day — to the hospital’s emergency room in the last five years, according to McDermott.
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