Commonwealth Health to consolidate Scranton ER operations at Regional Hospital

Jan. 31—Commonwealth Health will close the emergency room at Moses Taylor Hospital in the coming months and consolidate ER operations at nearby Regional Hospital of Scranton.

The plan comes amid the health system's ongoing work to integrate operations of the two hospitals, which received state approval last year to merge under a single license.

Moses Taylor's emergency room will close on or before 11:59 a.m. April 1, Commonwealth said in a press release Tuesday. The release says it will review and strengthen processes to support larger volumes of patients at Regional.

"This operational decision has been made with the support and encouragement of the ER medical staff to consolidate staffing resources at one site to improve patient care and operational efficiencies," the statement reads.

The change also supports Commonwealth's plans to create an "outpatient surgery center of excellence" at Moses Taylor. Regional's freestanding ambulatory surgery center will relocate to Moses over the coming weeks.

"This plan expands on the well-established women's health and senior mental health services already being offered at Moses Taylor," Commonwealth said.

Moses Taylor also now houses a nursing school, the product of a partnership between Commonwealth Health and Jersey College, which recently welcomed the inaugural class to its Scranton campus at the hospital.

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Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141; @jhorvathTT on Twitter.