NEW CASTLE Jameson Memorial Hospital will update ER

More staff, bed and equipment are being added to Jameson's emergency room.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Jameson Memorial Hospital is making upgrades to its emergency department to handle the overflow when St. Francis Hospital closes its emergency room next week.
Jameson Health System is buying St. Francis in a deal announced late last summer.
Two other St. Francis Health System facilities were also sold to another provider, UPMC, in the deal.
Combining services
Jameson officials say they are still working on combining services at the two buildings to make the new health system run efficiently. The buildings are only about two miles apart.
Closing the St. Francis Hospital emergency room is the first step in the transition, they said. It will officially close Oct. 31. The hospital also stopped providing acute care services Friday.
Jameson officials said they are increasing the number of beds, staff and cardiac monitoring units in their emergency room to handle the expected influx of patients.
Linda Cody, Jameson spokeswoman, said ambulances not carrying emergency patients are also being instructed to use other entrances of the Wilmington Road hospital.
Public notice
Public notice of expansion of emergency services is not required by law, but Jameson officials said they decided to make the public aware of the changes since St. Francis Hospital let out word Monday of the emergency room's closing.
"We all believe that by combining good people of both institutions, we can secure a strong future for health care in our community," said Douglas Danko, vice president of professional services. "We all need to be sensitive to the many issues affecting our patients, our employees and our community as a whole."
Danko said they expect to make other information about the transition available as it is known by hospital officials.