The entrance of the Lake Placid Health and Medical Fitness Center is seen here on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

LAKE PLACID — Facing multi-million-dollar losses this year, local health care organization Adirondack Health plans to further cut down operating hours at its part-time emergency department in Lake Placid next month.

By mid-November, the emergency department at the Lake Placid Health and Medical Fitness Center will be open 12 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year. That’s three fewer hours per day.

The change is expected to save the hospital $300,000 in 2021.

The realignment follows years of low patient volumes, exacerbated this year by the COVID-19 pandemic and state directives to limit capacity and temporarily shut down elective procedures in the event of a surge of coronavirus-positive patients.

From 8 to 11 p.m., the Lake Placid emergency room saw an average of one patient per day between 2018 and 2020. This year, the emergency department has averaged less than one patient per day between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., for a total of 237 patients to date. Of those 237 patients, one was classified as emergent — which is to say they presented with a time-critical problem. The remaining 236 cases were less urgent, comprised of issues such as fevers, simple cuts, rashes and requests for prescription medication refills.

“Adirondack Health remains committed to serving Lake Placid, surrounding communities, and their comprehensive healthcare needs,” Dr. John Esper, emergency medicine director at Adirondack Health, said in a statement. “It’s our responsibility to be realistic and analytical in determining how we best render that care, to position ourselves to do so for the long term.”

Adirondack Health is working with the state Department of Health to finalize the exact hours of operation. The health system will continue to scale up to a 24-hour schedule in the Lake Placid emergency department as needed, for things like large-scale community events, natural disasters, and severe weather events. The emergency department at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake will remain open 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.

“Our emergency medicine physicians, PAs, nurses and staff cover shifts in both Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, and will continue to do so,” Esper said.