PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Less than four months after the Medical Center of Southeast Texas Campus in Beaumont closed, the future of their Port Arthur facility is now in question.
The parent company, Steward Health Care System, has officially filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
"I'm here with my wife, she's having back pains. She's been in a wreck in Beaumont on Sunday," said Matthew Kennerson.
Living in Port Arthur, Kennerson relies on the locational convenience of the Medical Center of Southeast Texas.
"It's very convenient here, I mean instead of having to travel to Beaumont, Houston, or whatever it's very convenient here," said Kennerson.
If the hospital does indeed close, Kennerson fears his family may not be able to afford to travel for healthcare.
"By the economy going on, and this and that, it'd be a lot of traveling. I don't think it's a good idea," Kennerson said.
Health care experts in the city tell 12News that having quick access to medical care during an emergency can mean the difference between life and death.
"That's the only hospital that we have here in Port Arthur. And it is really a vital facility for chronic diseases, emergency care, maternity care," said Judith Smith, Health Director of the City of Port Arthur Health Department.
Primary care doctors and nursing homes like Cascades at Port Arthur heavily rely on the convenience of the medical center.
"It's important to have a facility right in our own back yard that services our geriatric population in emergency situations," said Andy Hill Administrator at Cascades at Port Arthur Skilled Nursing Facility.
The parent company, Steward Health Care, said in a statement that the hospitals would remain open through the chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
"They did tell us the doors would remain open. And so we hope and pray that is going to Happen," said Smith.
With the fate of the hospital up in the air, Port Arthur residents are simply hoping that someone can intervene for the good of the community.
"I hope that a hospitality group possibly one out of Houston either Methodist or UTMB may possibly purchase the facility, and continue to provide health care for a local community," said Hill.