Two new “community hospitals” operated by Saint Luke’s Health System are ready to serve northeast Johnson County.

The facility at 75th and Metcalf has been up-and-running for a few weeks now, and another at Roe and Johnson Drive in Roeland Park is expected to be operational in July.

The two community hospitals are part of an effort by Saint Luke’s to expand its presence throughout the metro area and to offer emergency department services that are conveniently located for patients and that have shorter wait times than larger hospitals.

Bob Bonney, Saint Luke’s Health System Senior Vice President of Non-Ambulatory Services and Business Development, said the average time between walking in to the emergency department at one of the community hospitals and seeing a provider is around five minutes.

Bonney said that in addition to patient convenience and reduced wait times, the new locations should help alleviate demand for services at the main hospitals. The Roeland Park location, he said, is strategically located so that it can serve as “a kind of pressure release valve for the Saint Luke’s Hospital emergency room.”

The community hospitals each have seven emergency department rooms and eight in-patient beds. They will offer medical services including CT scans, radiology, a lab and a pharmacy. Patients requiring surgical care will be transferred to one of the system’s larger facilities.

Saint Luke’s is holding an open house at the Roeland Park facility from 4 to 6 p.m. on June 25.

Plans for the Overland Park hospital, which replaced an aging retail center, went before the city in fall 2016. Roeland Park signed off on plans for the facility there in fall 2016 as well.