Via Christi completes purchase of shuttered Derby hospital. When will it reopen?

Ascension Via Christi has completed its acquisition of the former Rock Regional Hospital in Derby, which closed on Jan. 7 after filing for bankruptcy protection late last year.

Via Christi announced plans to purchase the 90,000-square-foot facility in March.

“This milestone reflects Via Christi’s unwavering commitment to the growth and long-term success of its Kansas market, as well as its dedication to extending its faith-based mission to Derby and the greater Wichita community,” the hospital said in a June 26 press release.

The hospital has been renamed Ascension Via Christi St. Peter.

It will not reopen until next summer, the hospital said in the press release, because the hospital will require a “significant amount” of work to merge platforms or install new software systems that track everything from billing to patient records, among other back-offce procedures needed to loop the hospital into the Via Christi system.

“Over the coming months, dedicated teams will work behind the scenes to update the facility’s physical property, transition medical equipment and fully integrate its infrastructure into the broader Via Christi network,” the company said.

It will start hiring employees for that location later this year and plans to prioritize the potential rehiring of qualified former staff when appropriate.

Via Christi said in an email attached to the press release that it is not taking interviews at this time.

Rock Regional Hospital opened at 3251 N. Rock Road in 2019, across from Derby North Middle School and north of Field Station: Dinosaurs.

At one time, it employed around 200 people, according to The Eagle’s previous reporting. The hospital cost around $40 million to build, and its bankruptcy filing listed between $50 million and $100 million in liabilities.

How much Via Christi spent to purchase the hospital was not immediately known.

Contributing: Lindsay Smith of The Eagle.