Moses Taylor, Regional Hospital of Scranton secure approval to merge under one license

Jeff Horvath, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Nov. 13—Commonwealth Health's Moses Taylor Hospital and Regional Hospital of Scranton received state approval to merge under one license, the health system announced.

The licensure transition approved by the state Department of Health allows the two Scranton institutions to formally coordinate operations across their campuses, located just blocks from each other in the city's Hill Section.

A single board of trustees and executive team will oversee those operations; physicians are now joined on a single medical staff and medical executive committee, according to a news release.

"Our boards, physicians and employees are united in a vision for serving our patients and Northeastern Pennsylvania," Michael Curran, who took over as CEO of both hospitals earlier this year, said in the release. "Operating under a single license brings efficiencies that strengthen the delivery of care and position us well for the future."

Shortly after taking the job, Curran told the newspaper in May he planned to build on the strengths of both hospitals, highlighting keystone services they offered. He touted Moses Taylor as among the best hospitals in the state to deliver a baby and lauded the Heart and Vascular Institute at Regional, noting he hadn't seen its equal.

With the two hospitals and their respective satellite facilities operating under one license, Moses Taylor, where an estimated 45,718 babies have been delivered since July 2000, will remain the campus for births and obstetrics. Infants will continue to receive specialized care in Moses Taylor's neonatal intensive care unit and seniors will continue to receive specialized behavioral health care at the hospital.

Moses Taylor will also soon house a nursing school — the product of a partnership between Commonwealth Health and Jersey College — offering both an RN program, preparing students to become registered nurses, and an LPN-to-RN bridge program for licensed practical nurses working to further their careers. Inaugural classes at the Jersey College School of Nursing Scranton campus will begin in January.

Regional Hospital, meanwhile, will continue providing adults with acute medical services, including inpatient and intensive care, as well as surgical care "from orthopedic procedures to advanced robotic-assisted techniques to treat lung cancer," the news release notes. It also touts the Heart and Vascular Institute and the cardiovascular care rendered there.

Both hospitals' emergency rooms remain open, Commonwealth spokeswoman Annmarie Poslock confirmed.

Efforts to reach the state Department of Health's press office, which was closed Friday in observance of Veterans Day, and efforts to reach Curran directly were unsuccessful.

In the news release, Curran thanked "all of our leaders, providers and employees for their collaboration in planning for this transition."

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter.