Tuesday, September 18, 2018
By JORDYN GRZELEWSKI
jgrzelewski@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
It will likely be an emotional day for the hundreds of Northside Regional Medical Center employees whose last day at the hospital is today.
Activity at the hospital has been winding down this week as it prepares to close, and the facility will officially shutter just after midnight tonight.
Boston-based Steward Health Care, citing decade-long underuse of Northside, announced Aug. 15 it was closing the Gypsy Lane hospital. The closure impacts 468 employees.
“This is a difficult time for all employees now that the last day is upon us with no choice of our own,” said Laurie Hornberger, president of the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association, a union representing 188 Northside nurses. “The employees are experiencing many emotions. We started together as strangers and now we’re leaving as family.”
She added: “The nurses at Northside have worked hard to provide excellent care to the community for many decades.”
The Youngstown Hospital Association opened Northside Hospital in 1929. The facility underwent numerous name and ownership changes over the years, according to Vindicator files.
In 1997, it merged with Tod Children’s Hospital and Trumbull Memorial Hospital under the Forum Health system. Forum Health filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
In 2010, Community Health Services, based in Tennessee, purchased Forum Health and changed its name to ValleyCare Health System of Ohio.
Ownership again changed hands in May of last year, when Steward purchased eight Community Health hospitals.
In announcing its decision to close Northside less than 11⁄2 years after purchasing it, Steward said the facility was “chronically underutilized,” with four out of five beds sitting empty each night. YGDNA members pushed back on that reasoning, saying they felt Steward did not dedicate enough time to turning the hospital’s operations around.
In preparing for the closure, Steward hosted two employee job fairs. The company also has said it has 200 job openings at the other hospitals it owns in this area – Trumbull Regional Medical Center in Warren, Sharon Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland, as well as at its area medical practices.
Hornberger, who has worked at Northside for 13 years, said some YGDNA members have found new jobs, while some are still looking.
Other local health care providers, including Mercy Health, have said they can hire some of the employees affected by the closure.
The process of shutting down the facility’s operations began this week, with the hospital stopping ambulances and admissions to the emergency department and labor and delivery unit at 6 a.m. Monday.
The closure of the labor-and-delivery unit has caused concern among some community members, as Northside was the only hospital in Youngstown with delivery services.
The hospital officially closes at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
What will become of the building is unclear.
Employees, community members and elected officials have expressed hope it can be turned into another medical facility. Some Mahoning Valley elected officials have talked about converting it into a Veterans Affairs clinic, a possibility U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, noted in a statement Tuesday.
“I remain disappointed that Northside Regional Medical Center is shutting its doors,” he said. “The doctors, nurses and employees at Northside are some of the hardest working and most talented people in their fields.
“Since their announcement, I have worked tirelessly with area hospitals, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, area elected officials and local business leaders to find a new role for the facility. I will continue to fight every day to ensure that our community has the world-class medical coverage and economic opportunities we deserve.”