Last week, Geisinger Health System officials touted a massive expansion of Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Luzerne County.
But the system's plans to expand its main Lackawanna County hospital remain on hold as Geisinger officials try account for a Scranton City Council zoning vote that has so far derailed the plans.
In a three-year period, the Geisinger Health system spent millions of dollars buying up land and homes in Scranton’s Hill Section so it could expand Geisinger Community Medical Center.
The system paid almost $6.3 million for 22 properties and tens of thousands of dollars more tearing down homes in the 200 and 400 blocks of Colfax Avenue.
Since then, no expansion. The blocks sit flat and mostly empty, except for grass and a couple of pet waste stations.
“So we're still working on a solution,” said Ron Beer, Geisinger’s interim chief operating officer.
Beer spoke about the Scranton progress after ceremonially breaking ground on the Wyoming Valley hospital.
Beer said the City Council’s decision last year to put Colfax’s 200 block in a zone limiting building height to 45 feet seriously affected Geisinger’s plans. Geisinger wanted a zone with a 100-foot limit, but the council sided with residents who favored the lower limit.
“And to be completely honest, we're having a hard time figuring out how do we meet the needs of the community within the space that the city has given us and current zoning,” Beer said. “It's a bit of a challenge. But we're looking at a number of different solutions.”
Beer said Geisinger brought in multiple architectural firms to get a “fresh perspective to solve the puzzle.”
“And that’s quite frankly what it is, a puzzle,” he said.
Geisinger needs more parking plus it wants to convert GCMC to all private rooms with an expanded emergency department and upgraded MRI and other imaging suites.
Beer just can’t say when it might happen and declined to give a timeline.
“The community needed it like yesterday, so as soon as we can figure it out, as soon as we can move forward with it, the better,” he said.
Doris Koloski doesn’t mind the empty, grassy lot across the street from her home in Colfax’s 400 block. That Geisinger can’t seem to figure out how to meet the zoning requirements after spending all that money doesn’t bother her.
“So I guess that's their problem. But I mean, I know they do need a bigger emergency room and everything,” she said. “Would I like the new houses? Yes. Do I care if there's a grassy land across the street? No. It's nice to sit out on your porch and be able to see all the way up to Arthur Avenue.”
