Moses Taylor ER ending operations, state approves consolidation at Regional Hospital
Mar. 29—The emergency room at Moses Taylor Hospital will close just before midnight Friday as Commonwealth Health consolidates its ER operations in the city at nearby Regional Hospital of Scranton.
The state Department of Health approved Commonwealth's emergency room consolidation plan, the health system announced Wednesday. Regional and Moses Taylor received state approval last year to merge under a single license.
"The ER medical staff encouraged consolidation of staffing resources to strengthen patient care and operational efficiencies," a Commonwealth press release notes. "Quality care and patient safety remain the top priorities."
While the ER there will end operations at 11:59 p.m. Friday, patients 20 weeks pregnant or more with a pregnancy-related concern should seek care at Moses Taylor's Family Birthing Suites, according to the release. Regional Hospital is prepared to provide emergency care to expectant mothers less than 20 weeks pregnant for any pregnancy-related concern, or at any stage of pregnancy for other serious concerns unrelated to the pregnancy.
"Commonwealth Health is communicating with area women, obstetricians, health clinics and emergency response systems outside of the hospital, to share this important information for women who are pregnant," the health system said. "Expectant mothers are encouraged to discuss delivery planning and emergency care with their physician during their next office visit."
Asked in late January how the planned ER unification would impact staffing, Commonwealth sent a reply noting it "will only reduce our reliance on agency nurses."
At that time, Moses Taylor and Regional CEO Michael Curran said in a statement that "people and processes are the most critical element to ER capacity, more than physical space."
"By combining our people — physicians, nurses and others — from two current ERs into a single location we will greatly augment the resources for patient care," he said.
The changing emergency department landscape in Scranton comes as Geisinger Community Medical Center plans a potential expansion that would grow its ER, where officials working to meet incredibly high demand have implemented hallway beds amid a shortage of space.
Geisinger has stressed the need for more emergency room capacity at CMC as part of its broader advocacy for proposed zoning changes that would accommodate the hospital's expansion in the Hill Section.
Proposed rezoning there, part of Scranton's first comprehensive zoning update since 1993, has prompted significant pushback from neighbors wary of the planned expansion's impact on their neighborhood. The height of a potential hospital parking structure on the odd-numbered side of Colfax's 200 block is a particular point of contention.
Scranton City Council will hold a public hearing April 18 on the proposed new zoning ordinance, which remains tabled.
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