Officials Rally Outside Hahnemann University Hospital Over Potential Public Health Crisis With Closing Of Hospital
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Health care professionals rallied over what they're calling the public health emergency that will happen when Hahnemann University Hospital pulls the plug.
On a steamy Tuesday afternoon, nurses and staff rally against plans to close Hahnemann University Hospital.
The Center City medical facility is expected to close completely by September, leaving a couple thousand people unemployed. Parts of the operation are already on life support, as told by nurses who staff the ER.
"We are hemorrhaging patients right now. The worst part is we're not going to be there for those we see on a daily basis," ER nurse Lorraine Alexander said.
Hahnemann University Hospital Not Accepting Trauma Patients, Officials Say
On Saturday, the emergency room halted accepting trauma patients, steering them away to other hospitals in the city.
Marty Harrison is a nurse at Temple.
"There's already people in the hallways at every emergency department in the city, and this is just going to drive us into an absolute crisis," Harrison said.
The city's efforts to block the shutdown are ongoing.
Meanwhile, the hospital's parent company on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Delaware.
Nurses Rally Outside Owner's Rittenhouse Square Home To Save Hahnemann University Hospital
Barbara MacDonald is a nurse in the hematology department. Her parents met here, and for her the closing, after a 26-year run at Hahnemann, was hard to accept.
"It was a shock, to be honest with you. It was a shock," MacDonald said. "It was like a gut punch, cause it's still there, the pain is still there."
Eyewitness News reached out to a spokesperson for the hospital about Tuesday's demonstration, but he refused to comment.
