Ellwood City Medical Center Announces Layoffs

This afternoon, according to a Facebook Live video from PA State Representative Aaron Bernstine, it was announced that the Ellwood City Medical Center has laid off 92 of the 171 employees of the hospital.

The layoffs are due to the recent closing of the emergency room as well as the inpatient facilities.

Over the next several days, Mr. Bernstine’s offices will be coordinating with other healthcare facilities to set up a job fair, exclusive to those employees who have been displaced. Bernstine’s offices will bring in representatives from as many healthcare facilities as possible to meet the talented health care professionals here in Ellwood City and help them gain employment in another facility.

State Representative Bernstine along with Senator Elder Vogel have both published statements on their social media pages in regards to assistance in obtaining unemployment for those medical center employees who have been laid off this week.

Bernstine has also coordinated with Ellwood City Borough Manger, David Allen, to establish a payment plan for those employees that use Ellwood Electric. Mr. Allen can be reached at 724-758-5576 to set up a payment plan for those employees who have been displaced.

According to Elder Vogel’s social media account, Vogel and staff have been engaged with the ECMC, the PA Dept. of Health & legislative colleagues to do our best to ensure this critical local health care facility remains operational. Senator Vogel is still holding out hope that the medical center will soon thrive & we know all of those involved have patient care and safety as their top priority.

The PA Department of Health provided no update this week in regards to its ban of services at the Ellwood City Medical Center after it had discovered serious violations during an inspection in late November.  A paper flyer was posted at the medical center doors shortly thereafter announcing the closure of ER and inpatient services.

“Because of this ban on admissions, the decline in census and the ongoing issue with timeliness of payments, we were faced with having to temporarily lay off a significant portion of our staffy,” CEO Beverly Annarumo said in an email statement published by the Post-Gazette on Thursday.

The former Ellwood City Hospital’s future came into question soon after it was purchased in 2017 by Americore Health, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based privately held company that specializes in acquiring and managing rural hospitals. Americore and Ellwood City Medical Center were under fire for months over claims that employees and vendors have not been paid in a timely manner.

“The hospital is still providing outpatient care,” Annarumo concluded.