04-03-2025
Health care advocates to hold town hall forum aimed at keeping Regional Hospital of Scranton open
The SEIU Healthcare workers' union and other advocates will hold a town hall forum next week focused on sparing Regional Hospital of Scranton from possible closure.
Ads published recently in The Times-Tribune promoting a 'Save Regional Hospital' town hall March 13 at 4 p.m. at Hilton Scranton & Conference Center, 100 Adams Ave., in Scranton, say SEIU hospital employees, patients and residents of the Scranton area are 'united in our commitment to save Regional Hospital.' The ads contain over 1,400 names and an 'open letter to our elected officials' that addresses the uncertainty the institution faces, saying, 'We must save Regional Hospital for this and future generations of Scranton area families.'
Those who will attend the the town hall are asked to sign up online at Doors will open at 3:30 p.m. and the event will be held in the Electric City Ballroom.
It's the latest development regarding financial difficulties of the for-profit Commonwealth Health system, which is Regional's parent firm, that have clouded the future of both Regional Hospital and its nearby sister campus, Moses Taylor Hospital. Regional and Moses Taylor are separate facilities but operate under a single license following a 2022 merger with operations coordinated across the two campuses — such that Regional's fate determines Moses Taylor's fate.
Last summer, a nonprofit called WoodBridge Healthcare announced plans to purchase Commonwealth Health's financially struggling hospitals from subsidiaries of Tennessee-based Community Health Systems Inc., which is Commonwealth's corporate parent. That plan fueled cautious optimism among health care workers, patients and local elected officials. But its collapse in late November renewed concerns that Regional and Moses Taylor could close if not acquired by another buyer.
Workers and other stakeholders voiced such concerns at a packed town hall forum in December, when officials revealed that other health care providers had expressed interest in the Commonwealth facilities. At that town hall, state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-114, Waverly Twp., expressed confidence that a new deal would arise to spare Regional, and possibly by the end of that year.
State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski speaks the Electric City Ballroom of the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center in Scranton Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
That did not come to pass. In January, Kosierowski, a longtime nurse and leader on the issue of health care access locally, said discussions were still ongoing and had the attention of Gov. Josh Shapiro; and she remained confident that Regional ultimately would be saved.
In a phone interview Monday, Kosierowski said she looked forward to attending the upcoming town hall meeting and again said she believes Regional Hospital will survive. Several nonprofit entities have come forward as potential buyers and have received facilities' assessments that they are reviewing, she said. These entities all continue to discuss a potential acquisition and transitioning away from Commonwealth Health, she said, noting she could not be more specific. But she expects that one of the suitors could soon emerge from the group as the successful buyer.
'I'm anticipating an announcement very soon,' Kosierowski said. 'I can say with certainty we're not closing. This institution is not closing. Everyone is still at the table.'
The ad for the upcoming town hall said, 'The collapse of the proposed sale of Regional Hospital to WoodBridge Healthcare left many in our community worrying about what will happen to the hospital, but we must press forward and secure a future for this essential institution.'
Other details in the ad included that Regional:
• Delivers 70% of the babies in Lackawanna County.
• Cares for 36,000 patients in the emergency department each year.
• Is the only hospital in the county with a level 3 neonatal intensive care unit and a geriatric behavioral health unit.
• Employs over 1,000 people and contributes nearly $150 million a year in local wages and family benefits. 'The loss of these jobs would be devastating to the families of Regional employees and to our local economy. Other local hospitals cannot absorb the number of workers who would be displaced,' the ad says.
It also says that other local hospitals already have emergency department wait times above the national average and simply do not have the capacity to take on all of Regional's patients. A closure of Regional would mean 'a severe reduction' in access to care and a dangerous increase in travel time for patients seeking critical or lifesaving care.
Kosierowski also said a closure of Regional would be catastrophic for the local health care landscape.
'As a nurse I tend not to be an alarmist, but people will die — babies and mothers are going to lose their lives if we do not keep these doors open,' Kosierowski said.
Meanwhile, Kosierowski also will host an unrelated public forum titled 'Hands Off Our Healthcare: A Town Hall on Medicare & Medicaid Cuts,' on Monday from 6-8 p.m. at the Peoples Security Bank Theater at Lackawanna College, 501 Vine St. in Scranton.
