Fishtown is about to lose another neighborhood institution. More importantly, it's one that could save lives. In a rare synergy of news regarding and affecting Fishtowners and Temple University, it was announced recently that Northeastern Hospital will officially close its doors come July 1 of this year.The closest full-service hospital to Fishtown, which also dutifully serves the residents of Port Richmond, Kensington and other surrounding neighborhoods, will reopen as the Northeastern Ambulatory Care Center, a multi-specialty outpatient center featuring pre-natal and non-emergency care, according to Temple Health Services.
The hospital, which has serviced the community for nearly 100 years, reportedly posted over $6.5 million in losses last year said officials and is projected to lose another $15 million this year. In conjunction with the closing, nearly 800 employees stand to lose their jobs.
While inpatient and emergency services will fall victim to Temple's plans, the new center will offer cancer, cardiac, digestive disease and orthopedic care on an outpatient basis. Radiological services and lab work will continue to be performed on-site.
Current patients will be able to access impatient services at Temple University Hospital after June 30. Over the next few weeks, representatives from both Northeastern and Temple will meet with community groups to discuss how the changes will affect patients and the neighborhoods reliant upon their services.
While Fishtown is hardly the only Philadelphia neighborhood facing diminishing health care services and options - the past decade has seen over 7 closures in the greater Philadelphia area - the loss of a hospital is a devastating blow to the neighborhood. While Temple has made provisions to continue care in their newly expanded hospital on Broad Street, that facility is over 20 blocks from Northeastern using conservative measures. Only time will tell what the impact of losing their hospital will levy upon the residents of Fishtown.
-Group 20
2 comments:
Very nice article about Port Richmond losing Northeastern Hospital ... wait, Fishtown?? That's incorrect.
"dutifully serves the residents of Port Richmond, Kensington and other surrounding neighborhoods"
The Hospital is in Port Richmond, and also services Fishtown and Kensington. There's isn't a clear line dividing the areas so some things are fuzzy, but Northeastern is pretty much in the middle of Port Richmond, no fuzzy there!
It is a good article, but it's actually Port Richmond that is losing out this time around. Thanks for bringing this topic up though, as the area is really going to be hurt by losing this hospital.
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