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Forum Health opens Hubbard medical center
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A LOOK INSIDE: Michael Seelman, chief operating officer of Forum Health Services, shows off one of the five examination rooms in the Hubbard immediate-care center on North Main Street, which opened to the public Wednesday.
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Hubbard care center: People gather to take a look at the new Forum Health immediate-care center on North Main Street in Hubbard. The facility opened Wednesday, and staff there will treat minor illnesses and injuries such as small fractures and cuts.
Forum opens Hubbard center
By JORDAN COHEN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HUBBARD — For Michael Seelman, chief operating officer of Forum Health Services, the opening of an immediate-care center here is a welcome change from a turbulent week.
On Monday, the bankrupt health system bowed to demands of creditors and ousted chief executive officer Walter “Buzz” Pishkur. Pishkur’s departure is believed to be one of the components of a plan negotiated between Forum and its creditors to avert the closing of Northside Medical Center in Youngstown.
Pishkur is being retained as a consultant.
Seelman said the opening of the Hubbard center Wednesday follows a “hub-and-spoke strategy” designed to support Northside and Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Forum’s acute-care facilities.
The North Main Street center, containing five examination rooms, is actually the recently expanded medical offices of longtime Hubbard physician Dr. Charles Sammarone.
Seelman said Forum is leasing the offices from Dr. Sammarone on a monthly basis at “fair market value as required by law.” He did not disclose the monthly payments.
A spokesman said Dr. Sammarone was unable to attend the center’s opening because of a family illness.
Forum will operate its new unit Mondays through Fridays from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will treat patients for minor illnesses such as flu, sore throat and upper respiratory infections and minor injuries such as simple fractures and cuts.
Betty Panchik, Forum regional manager for occupational health services and immediate care, said the center will be staffed by a doctor, medical assistant and X-ray technician. She said a nurse will occasionally be assigned to the center.
“Previously ,people from Hubbard had to go to either Youngstown or Sharon for their immediate care after hours, so this will make it much easier for them,” Panchik said.
Seelman said Forum is considering expansion of its immediate-care unit in Austintown and is reviewing plans for a similar facility in Newton Falls.
He said Forum is not considering opening a similar immediate-care facility in Boardman “at the present time.”
The chief operating officer said despite the management change this week, the opening of the Hubbard unit should be viewed as another indication that Forum is moving toward viability.
“You’re going to have bumps in the road, but the key is to have a plan, work strategically with our partners and exit from bankruptcy,” Seelman said. “I’m more confident today than I’ve ever been about our plan.”
Forum Health filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on March 16.