Monsour Medical Center to close
Years of financial struggles, poor inspections and a dwindling number of patients finally have taken their toll on Monsour Medical Center, which announced Friday that it is closing.
The embattled Westmoreland County hospital sent word to state health officials late Thursday that it would not accept a limited operating license approved earlier this week.
In a three-paragraph letter sent to the state Department of Health, hospital Chief Operating Officer Michael Monsour said the new license would have created a liability risk. The license was to take effect yesterday.
"As a result, we feel we have no choice but to announce the suspension of emergency services, cessation of admissions to all units and the transfer of all in-patients to appropriate facilities," wrote Monsour, son of hospital founder Dr. Howard Monsour.
The hospital will remain open until all of its patients are either discharged or transferred to other facilities -- a process that could take as long as several weeks, said Richard McGarvey, spokesman for the state health department.
"It's not something we wish to rush," he said.
Monsour Medical Center had 20 patients yesterday afternoon.
The hospital will operate under restrictions imposed by the state until all the patients leave.
The health department issued a limited license Wednesday that stripped Monsour Medical Center of permission to perform surgeries and administer anesthesia. It also reduced the number of beds to 66, including a dozen set aside for medical patients and six for intensive-care patients.
Michael Monsour's letter to the state noted the financial impact of the health department's decision to downgrade the license and said the hospital could not operate under such restrictions.
"The issuance of a license excluding surgery and anesthesia seriously jeopardizes our ability to provide emergency procedures to both in-patients and out-patients of Monsour Medical Center. We feel our patients will not have access to the quality of care that they are entitled to and have come to expect," Monsour wrote.
The hospital had a staff of 270 in October. It is not known how many were employed there as of yesterday.
Monsour Medical Center had more than 110 beds available to patients before the health department's decision this week.
The hospital operated psychiatric treatment units for adolescents and the elderly, as well as an alcohol and drug treatment unit. A pain clinic closed in December.
Monsour Medical Center had been operating under a series of six-month provisional licenses for the past two years because of deficiencies found during inspections. State rules prohibit the issuance of more than four provisional licenses.
In issuing the two-year limited license earlier this week, state health officials said some deficiencies noted in a January inspection had been corrected and that no new problems had been found.
At the time of the inspection, state surveyors found just seven patients at the hospital.
Michael Monsour met with staff members Thursday and told them about the decision to close.
McGarvey said word of the hospital's closing reached Harrisburg after the close of business Thursday via a one-page fax.
Hospitals are required to give state health officials 90 days' notice before closing.
McGarvey said monitors were dispatched yesterday morning to Jeannette to oversee the transfer of patients and to ensure that the hospital is shut down properly.
County officials said Monsour Medical Center's closing was expected and won't have a great impact on emergency services in the area because Jeannette-Mercy Hospital is about a mile away.
Jeannette Mayor Michael Cafasso said the hospital's closing will be the city's loss.
"It's very depressing when you have jobs go out like that. It hurts the economics of the city. Jeannette always has been known as having a choice of two hospitals. I thought they were working hard to get everything they needed to stay open," Cafasso said.
The mayor said he hopes the property -- considered to be a valuable piece of land -- will be sold or leased to another hospital.
Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg said it will accept Monsour Medical Center patients.
"We're willing and able to take any patient-care needs they have," said Sam Raneri, senior vice president of operations for Excela Health.
Monsour Medical Center, a landmark along Route 30, was founded in the 1950s by Howard Monsour and his three brothers.
The hospital has been in financial peril for the past 20 years and filed for bankruptcy four times. It emerged from the most recent bankruptcy filing last March.
After emerging from bankruptcy, the hospital hired John Bukovac as its new chief operating officer. Three months later, Bukovac was fired. Michael Monsour, a businessman, was appointed the new CEO.
Last May, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield said it no longer would pay for care that its clients received at Monsour Medical Center, except in emergencies.
Monsour Medical Center received its final provisional license in September -- a move that health officials said at the time could be a prelude to the hospital's closing.
