LA GRANGE, Texas (KXAN) — Paint chips from a sign in front of the now-abandoned St. Mark’s Medical Center in La Grange.

It used to provide emergency services and orthopedic surgery, but closed its doors in 2023 due to financial difficulties, leaving a large gap in health care access for the community.

“That’s had a huge impact on the community,” said Sheri Kehler, CEO of Tejas Health Care, a primary care and mental health care provider. “People were using that hospital to have access to emergency services, and now they don’t have that.”

Kehler said, without the hospital, people have increasingly put off care.

“There’s an increase of people waiting to the last minute and coming [to Tejas Health Care], and then EMS has to transport them to Austin,” she said. “People want to move out this

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