Sen. Williams on Montgomery Hospital Negotiations

To the Editor:

If you take a few moments to read the history of Montgomery Hospital Medical Center on the center’s Web site, you will come across the phrase: “We remain committed to providing the highest quality of care to all of our patients, in the neighborhood in which they live.” That is a comforting phrase, but with closed-door negotiations ongoing between the medical center and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network to move the hospital from Norristown, it strikes a bad chord.

If these plans move forward – and if negotiations remain as covert as they are now we won’t know until plans are finalized – Norristown will be left without its primary major medical center. Norristown will lose its largest employer and the facility that now occupies two city blocks (complete with a lobby that was just renovated in 2005) has the potential to become a white elephant.

I am disappointed and angry that the deal to close the Norristown hospital site appears to be moving quickly, quietly and behind closed doors. I am doubly disappointed, because the Commonwealth has stepped forward over the last several years to work hand-in-hand with Norristown to revitalize the area. I continue to work with the administration to advance local initiatives. The governor has already committed millions of dollars to the revitalization efforts in the downtown area, including the construction of a new parking garage. And plans are moving forward for the waterfront. Everyone who lives, works or visits Norristown is seeing glimpses of what the future holds for the city. If the hospital is moved, it will be a harsh blow to revitalization efforts.

Yes, the current hospital building was completed in 1939, but it was only possible because the community came together and raised $600,000. And since that time, additions and renovations have helped to update and modernize the facility. Today, the facility serves about 10,000 inpatients and more than 100,000 outpatients annually. And more than half of those patients are Norristown residents, who have counted on their ability to either walk or use public transportation to access superior care.

If the hospital is moved, there is concern that many people in Norristown may not be able to count on public transportation to ensure they can access their primary source of health care. Also, there is a concern that staff working at Montgomery Hospital who may be offered positions at the new facility may not be able to accept those jobs, because of transportation issues.

 For many people, the hospital is a lifeline that they will lose if it moves out of the town. Even if “something” remains in Norristown, it will not be the same level of care that this community depends upon. A similar situation occurred when Mercy Haverford closed its doors. A small health-care unit was opened at the former hospital facility, but it too closed its doors and left town within two years.

 Certainly, everyone – local, county and state officials, as well as Norristown residents – understands the financial issues that the hospital is facing as it works to care for more people. There is ongoing discussion in Harrisburg on the topic of hospital financing, because the number of uncompensated care cases is rising across the state. The need for a state-of-the art facility is also understandable, but the need to move this new facility out of Norristown is not.

 Norristown officials are willing to do whatever it takes to accommodate Montgomery Hospital in every way possible. I urge Montgomery Hospital Medical Center and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network to come to the community leaders and work with them to see if there are other alternatives to moving the hospital from Norristown. I will continue to make myself available for meetings and negotiations, as well.

 Quite simply, Montgomery Hospital is just too important to the health and well being of every resident of Norristown to allow this potential relocation to be reduced to a discussion of profit margins. The humanitarians that originally started this hospital in 1889 in a vacant school as “Charity Hospital of Montgomery County” certainly understood the health-care needs of the people of Norristown. And until now, their caring and compassion has continued to blossom and grow into a facility that is now ranked among the top 100 hospitals in critical care medicine across the nation.

 I encourage everyone who counts on Montgomery Hospital to provide health care for themselves or their families to become involved in this discussion. Ask questions, voice your concerns and let the hospital and the professionals who work there know how important this hospital is to you and why it is critical that it remains in Norristown.

 Sincerely,
Connie Williams
State Senator
17^th District