Forum closes Immediate Care unit


By William K. Alcorn

The immediate-care operation did not attract sufficient patient volume to be economically viable.

BAZETTA — Forum Health is closing the Immediate Care and moving WorkMED services located at its Elm Road Medical Park, 2662 Elm Road, effective at midnight Aug. 1.

The reason for closing the immediate care operation is the inability to attract sufficient patient volume to remain economically viable to the hospitals’ core business, said Michael Seelman, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Forum Health Services.

After Aug. 1, the type of care provided by Elm Road Immediate Care will be available at the Trumbull Memorial Hospital Center for Emergency Medicine, 1350 E. Market St., Warren, he said.

The WorkMED unit at Elm Road Medical Park will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 1, at which time it will close and be moved to TMH Ambulatory Health Services Department, where it will reopen Aug. 4, Seelman said in a memorandum Tuesday to the Forum Health community. WorkMED will remain a part of Forum Health Services.

Consolidating services at TMH is more efficient, Seelman said.

WorkMED provides occupational health and industrial health rehabilitation, serving area employers with occupational health and Worker’s Compensation services at its three locations: Austintown, Boardman and Warren.

“We are working closely with the employees affected to identify other job opportunities within Forum Health. The staff of Elm Road Immediate Care provided the highest level of health care, and we are very grateful for their dedicated service to patients there,” Seelman said.

He said 11 full-time equivalent employees are affected by the changes.

Forum officials said the changes announced do not affect the operations of Immediate Care at Austintown Medical Park, Austintown or Boardman WorkMED, or other services provided at Elm Road Medical Park, which are the Center for Surgery, Center for Rehabilitation, Center for Radiology, and the Forum Health Outreach Lab.

alcorn@vindy.com