Financial issues force closure of hospital in Pauls Valley

PAULS VALLEY, Okla. (AP) – A financially troubled community hospital in southern Oklahoma has closed its doors and discontinued ambulance service.
Officials at Pauls Valley Regional Medical Center closed the facility on Friday. A telephone call by The Associated Press to the facility on Saturday was not answered.
The Pauls Valley Police Department says an ambulance service based in nearby Purcell will serve the area through the weekend. The nearest hospitals are about 27 miles away in Purcell and Arbuckle.
The hospital opened in 1970 and narrowly avoided closure last month, when officials said they had received enough funding to pay overdue health benefits and the salaries of 130 employees. The hospital declared bankruptcy in March 2013.
Pauls Valley is a community of about 6,000 people about 53 miles (101 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City.