Rockwall Emergency Room Closes Temporarily Due to COVID-19 Patient Surge

A North Rockwall emergency room is closing temporarily due to a surge in COVID-19 patients in the area.

The Texas Health Hospital North ER announced the closure effective midnight Friday to "allow members of the medical team to transfer to our hospital's main campus on Horizon Road, where they will provide care related to the pandemic."

The closure of the emergency room, located at 2265 North Lakeshore Drive, is the second such temporary closure in North Texas Friday.

A Hunt County emergency room also temporarily closed Friday as its staff moved to Hunt County Healthcare's largest hospital in Greenville to assist with COVID-19 patients.

The Rockwall emergency room advised anyone with an emergency to call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency room and to visit the closest urgent care facility for minor emergencies.

The numbers of new confirmed COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and the positivity rate in Texas have risen dramatically in the last two weeks, climbing to marks not reached since February.

W. Stephen Love, president, and CEO of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, said there were 1,979 COVID-19 patients in North Texas hospitals Thursday, with almost a third of all ICU patients having COVID-19.

UT Southwestern's latest COVID-19 forecast, released Friday, predicts a spike in virus-related hospitalizations that could surge past peaks seen in January by the end of this month if behaviors aren't changed.

Texas Health Resources joined other Texas hospital groups in making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all employees and, like the flu vaccine, a condition of employment on July 30.