Chamber hears plans to reopen closed hospital
BROWNSVILLE – Could the former Brownsville General Hospital be open to the public as a full-service hospital this fall? Maybe. At Tuesday’s Greater Brownsville Area Chamber of Commerce meeting, chamber President Frank Ricco didn’t reveal a time frame, but said there are definite plans to reopen the facility that has been closed since January 2006.
“We had a hospital board meeting last night (Monday) and we are really making progress,” Ricco said. “Hopefully, next month I will bring the management here and tell you when we will open the hospital. We will be a full-service hospital with all the services we had before and possibly a few more.”
Ricco chairs the board of directors of the Brownsville Tri-County Medical Center in addition to his position with the chamber. Nellda Ware serves as the treasurer of both organizations.
Ware said the board has hired James Burnette of Hospital Solutions Inc., based in Georgia, to head the reopening of the hospital. Ware said Burnette has been on board for the past six to eight weeks.
“He’s knowledgeable with everything that needs to be done in getting a license,” Ware said. “He’s made unbelievable progress. …We really look forward to being able to open the doors again.”
According to Larissa Bedrick of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, a license application packet has been sent to Brownsville Tri-County Medical Center, but the completed application has not yet been returned.
“They had talked about a goal of September for them to open, but we haven’t heard anything back yet,” Bedrick said.
Bedrick said it’s difficult to estimate how long it takes to go through the licensure process. She said all policies and procedures must be in order and the building inspected; then the staff must be hired and trained.
“Then we have an announced inspection, even though they don’t have any patients yet, to make sure the staff members have all the required training,” Bedrick said. “It could take weeks or months. Hopefully, since they have a consultant, it will go quickly.”
Ricco said the entire facility is in excellent shape. Ware pointed out that some areas of the hospital were renovated, but the hospital closed without any patients ever using those areas.
“Physical therapy will open with all new equipment,” Ricco said. “We are recruiting doctors. One of our doctors came to our meeting (Monday.) They are eager to come back to Brownsville.”
Ricco said all of the doctors’ offices would be in the office buildings adjacent to the hospital building. Dr. Dominic DiLeo, a cardiologist, has been holding office hours at the hospital. Ricco said DiLeo would be moving into one of the office buildings within a month.
“I think a lot of our doctors have realized what a hardship this has been. They have office hours in Brownsville, then they have to go to Washington, Uniontown or Mon Valley to visit their patients,” Ware said.
Ware pointed out that the former Brownsville General Hospital site contains 27 acres, giving the facility plenty of room to grow at a time when surrounding hospitals are out of space. Ricco said the hospital board has discussed the possibility of adding an assisted living facility to the campus for the past 20 years.