Pauls Valley’s hospital is closing down nearly four years after it reopened amid reported financial challenges.
Valley Community Hospital is closing its doors this week after an announcement Wednesday evening from its owner and CEO, Madhukar Sharma, according to the Pauls Valley Democrat. Sharma told the Democrat monthly shortfalls well into the six-figure range fueled his decision to close the facility.
Signs posted at the entrance reportedly pointed visitors to the Purcell Municipal Hospital and Arbuckle Memorial Hospital in Sulphur, which are about 25 miles away. Aaron Wallace, the hospital’s business office manager, told the Garvin County News Star the closure will “hopefully” be temporary.
“We’ll just have to see how things go, financially. I don’t have any other information I can share at this time,” Wallace told The Star.
Pauls Valley first lost its hospital in 2018 after officials said it had “run out of options for securing additional funds to keep the hospital going.”
Len Lacefield, the current CEO of Clinton Regional Hospital, helped spearhead the reopening of Pauls Valley’s hospital, which occurred through the Southern Plains Medical Group in April 2021. He said it spent a little over $8 million on rebuilding the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sharma acquired the hospital about one year later. Lacefield said he found out the hospital had closed again on Wednesday night.
“It is the, quite frankly, epitome of the rural health crisis in the United States,” Lacefield said.
According to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, 79% of Oklahoma’s rural hospitals operated with losses on services as of December 2024. Fifty-one percent are at risk of closing, and 32% are at an immediate risk of closing.
“I think what we're going to see here in 2025 is a bonfire effect of rural hospitals across the country,” Lacefield said.
As this year’s legislative session approaches, Lacefield said he hopes lawmakers will consider policies that would have a more immediate impact on rural facilities, such as further incentives for providers to move and work in rural communities, or a tax credit for rural hospitals when they successfully recruit a physician.
Pauls Valley is in Garvin County and has a population of about 6,000 people. The Pauls Valley Police Department said in a Facebook post Mercy EMS will still be available to service the community.
StateImpact reached out to Valley Community Hospital for a statement, which was not returned by publication. This story will be updated if the facility responds.
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