Multiple potential non-profit new owners have shown interest in buying two Scranton hospitals whose owner almost sold them last year, state legislators said Thursday.
Rep. Bridget Kosierowski (D-Lackawanna County) said Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration is directly involved in the talks between potential buyers and Commonwealth Health Systems, which owns Regional Hospital of Scranton and Moses Taylor Hospital.
The hospitals now operate under one license and are often referred to only as Regional Hospital.
Kosierowski spoke during a town hall attended by about 100 people at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center in downtown Scranton. Many work for one of the hospitals. SEIU Healthcare PA, the union representing hospital employes, organized the town hall.
'We will not close these doors'
“I want to make sure that the message is clear that we will not close these doors. We cannot let that happen,” Kosierowski said. “It would be catastrophic to our community and catastrophic to our patients.”
Seated at a long table with state Rep. Kyle Mullins and others, Kosierowski sympathized with employees.
“I know it's frustrating, and I know there's a lot of stress, and I know there's an enormous amount of rumors,” she said. “I just want you to know that you have a team here that's truly committed — and back in Harrisburg — truly committed to making sure these doors stay open.”
In response to a question, she declined to speculate on when an announcement about the hospitals’ future might happen. Afterward, she said she has some idea but declined to specify.
Community Health Systems had a deal to sell the hospitals and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital to WoodBridge Healthcare for $120 million. The deal fell apart in November because WoodBridge couldn’t attract financing.
In an email this week, Commonwealth spokeswoman Annmarie Poslock offered no new information about the hospitals’ status.
“The focus across Commonwealth Health is on delivering quality care for our patients. We have no other updates at this time,” Poslock wrote.
Completed facilities study
Kosierowski said sale negotiators now have a completed facilities study that details the hospitals’ necessary renovations.
Mullins expressed sympathy for anxious hospital workers nervous about the future.
“I'm sorry that that's what you're going through, you and your families and your patients and your patients’ families,” he said. “But to the extent that you can trust us and that you're willing to, I'm sitting here telling you that leadership at the highest levels of our state government are working to ensure that these doors of Regional Hospital will not close. There are multiple non-profit, reputable operators at the table.”
Mullins said he doesn’t know the potential buyers’ identities but said the governor’s office has regularly reassured him and Kosierowski that Commonwealth and possible new operators are “negotiating in good faith.”
Too important to fail
Panelist Susan Wiggins, a Regional medical laboratory technologist, said the hospitals are too important to fail.
“Regional has over 36,000 emergency room visits and over 381,000 total visits, patient visits each year,” Wiggins said. “If the hospital closed or cut services, surrounding facilities would not be able to absorb these patients, we'd end up with even longer wait times in Northeast Pennsylvania emergency rooms and a severe shortage of beds for patients who need them.”
She said Regional delivers more than 1,700 babies a year, or 70% of births in Lackawanna County.
Regional also has the only highest level intensive care unit for newborns in the county, she said.
“The next closest neonatal intensive care unit is a 45-minute drive away,” she said.’
Emma Rangel, a Regional registered ICU nurse, said the hospital operates with a skeleton staff as staff members leave for more secure jobs.
“And that needs to change,” Rangel said. “I know that this hospital is one of the most important economic drivers in this city. We have more than 1,000 jobs at the hospital. That's 148 million (dollars) in wages and benefits that go to local working families.”
Afterward, Wiggins said she sometimes thinks about finding a new job, but keeps deciding “to stick it out.”
“It's very frustrating for the staff not knowing what's going to become coming down the pike,” she said. “Many staff have left because they have young children, they need health insurance, they need job security.”
As the rally ended, SEIU political director Aaron Troisi said the union will go door-to-door in upcoming weeks to rally support for keeping the hospitals open.
