Freeman to bring ER, hospital back to community

Freeman Health System CEO Paula Baker announces the company's plans to take over the ER and add a 10-bed hospital Thursday morning.

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo

About five years after losing its hospital, Fort Scott took a positive step in the realm of healthcare Thursday.

During a news conference Thursday morning outside the former emergency department previously operated by Ascension Via Christi in the Legacy Health Foundation Building, Paula Baker, president and CEO of Freeman Health System, announced that Freeman plans to take over the emergency room and will also operate a 10-bed inpatient hospital in the former Mercy Hospital building. Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott closed in late 2018.

See Saturday's print or online edition for full story.

A crowd of community members, local officials and media representatives listen to an announcement by Freeman Health System CEO Paula Baker Thursday morning.

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo