Friday, May 14, 2010

Emergency Room in Bellevue to Close

West Penn Allegheny is shuttering their emergency room and ending inpatient care at their Bellevue facility. The shutdown will occur by the end of the summer.

State law prohibits a hospital from having an emergency room unless it has inpatient beds.

Kelly Sorice, spokesperson for the hospital said inpatient care is only about four percent of the services the facility provides. She added that Allegheny General Hospital is seven miles away for those that require inpatient care. She said hospital officials met with community leaders before making their decision.

LifeCare Hospitals operates 41 beds in the hospital. They plan to expand their services to 50 beds, and may add another 50 skilled nursing or transitional care beds.

There will be an urgent care center and physician offices at the facility. They will offer some service on an outpatient basis, such as radiology and imaging services, laboratory, dialysis, physical therapy, oncology and pediatric services.

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