Freestanding Emergency Room in San Angelo to Close for Good

SAN ANGELO, TX — A freestanding emergency room is closing and leaving the San Angelo market.

Neighbors Emergency Center celebrated one year of business here in San Angelo on September 30th. Their corporate offices told us today that they are closing their San Angelo location.

Neighbors’ spokeswoman Christine Damewood stated in an email to us:

My staff and myself are understandably upset and saddened by the news. We gave excellent patient care to the members of this community. We strived to be compassionate as well as skilled in our treatment of our patients. This is a decision that has been made on a corporate level, not a local level.

Thank You – Christine

Today’s announcement means there are 26 Neighbors freestanding ERs left, all of them in Texas.

In mid-September, Neighbors closed one of two locations in Amarillo, according to the Amarillo Globe-News. Neighbors said then it was consolidating its operations into one location.

San Angelo is a tough market for freestanding ERs. Two large hospitals have aggressive stand-alone clinic expansion strategies. Shannon Medical Center heavily markets its stand-alone clinics. And, whether you are visiting a Shannon or competing San Angelo Community Medical Center owned clinic, those locations have the capability to refer a clinic patient directly to their parent hospital’s primary emergency room.

Another company, Concho Valley ER, also opened on the west side of town just after Neighbor's grand opening.

The exact date the facility is expected to close is not known.