Oswego Community Hospital (OCH) was a federally and state-designated 12 bed

critical access hospital The Critical Access Hospital program is a United States federal program established in 1997 as part of the Balanced Budget Act. The program aims to offer small hospitals in rural areas to serve residents that would otherwise be a long distance from ...

located in

Oswego, Kansas Oswego is a city in and the county seat of Labette County, Kansas, United States, and situated along the Neosho River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,668. History Oswego is located on the site of an Osage village calle ...

, and one of several hospitals that fell victim to an alleged fraudulent billing scheme that the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

says was executed by EmpowerHMS, the hospital's former operator.

History

In 2007 Oswego Medical Center was purchased by HMC/CAH Consolidated, Inc. and the name changed to Oswego Community Hospital. The facility had in recent years been previously sponsored by and affiliated with Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center of

Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

with help from St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Missouri. At some point in the past decade, EmpowerHMS purchased Oswego Community Hospital. During this time, a sponsorship agreement was signed with Labette County-owned, privately funded

Labette Health Labette Health is a 99 bed Level III Trauma Center located in Parsons, Kansas and was founded in 1961. Labette Health is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association's Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program The Healthcare Facilities ...

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, in December 2010, bringing the only two hospitals in Labette County together with a cooperative agreement. OCH provided a wide variety of services, including General Medical care, Senior Mental Health programs, a 24-hour

Emergency Department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

, ExpressCare, multiple daytime walk-in clinics, a wound care program, various radiology, sexual assault and abuse help, laboratory, observation,

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

, dietary services, respiratory care, Swing Bed, a pharmacy, pastoral care, and out-patient services. A portable

CT Scanner A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

and MRI truck were also available on-call, and OCH had contracted with EagleMed to provide emergency air transport to more qualified hospitals. On February 13, 2019, Oswego Community Hospital abruptly closed its doors, "citing failure to expand Medicaid" and "low patient volumes." However, later in 2019, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced his office had executed a search warrant as part of a broader investigation of the hospital's operator, EmpowerHMS. In June 2020, federal indictments were unsealed, revealing that several persons associated with EmpowerHMS were indicted by the

for their alleged role in a $1.4 billion fraudulent billing scheme. In April 2020, the hospital's assets, including the former hospital site, a former clinic location, and other real estate, were purchased out of bankruptcy by Oswego NeuroPsych Hospital, Inc.

Current Services

The hospital is not currently operational. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Oswego NeuroPsych Hospital, Inc., lent personal protective equipment, including portable ventilators and other equipment, to the

Department of Emergency Management.

Future Operations

On April 15, 2020, local newspaper ''Labette Avenue'' reported that Oswego NeuroPsych Hospital, Inc., intended to reopen the former hospital in Oswego.

References

{{authority control Hospitals in Kansas Buildings and structures in Oswego, Kansas