January 19, 2015
HORNELL, NY – The 6.4 million dollars that was given to St. James by New York State, runs out on March 31, and sources from St. James Hospital have told WLEA news that in several months, the hospital administration is planning on shutting down their in-patient services, a month after that.
Sources say that the plan is this: starting on May 1, there will no more in-patients, including OB/GYN or Medical and Surgical inpatients. However, according to one source, this plan still could be changed, as the state has not given their final approval yet. Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan says the parent corporation for St. James, Trinity/CHE, just wants to shut the hospital down and move on, but Hogan also says the State Health Department will likely disagree with Trinity CHE on this one. “That’s what Trinity/CHE, who is the sponsoring agency now for St. James, that’s what they would like to see happen,” Hogan told WLEA News. “Because they would like to cut all ties with the community and move on. But I’ve been told by my health department contacts that their (Trinity/CHE) schedule does not necessarily meet the timetable of the health department.”
Hogan has stated previously that the state health department would not approve a plan to shut down St. James, until a subsequent plan for health care for Hornell and the surrounding area, is in place. The mayor will be meeting with the state health department in Albany on this issue on Tuesday.
WLEA emailed St. James Hospital’s marketing and communications office and the public relations office for a response to this story on Sunday night in the 8pm hour, which was shortly after we learned about this story, but as of this posting, we have not heard back from either of those offices at St. James. As soon as we hear from hospital officials, we will post their statement.
This afternoon, Kate Kreger from St. James issued the following statement:
St. James Mercy Hospital (SJMH) continues to implement the transformation of healthcare in Hornell. We are working closely with regional healthcare providers and with the New York State Department of Health to ensure the plan sustains access to vital healthcare services for the residents of Hornell and surrounding communities without interruption. As soon as we have more information, we will share it with employees, physicians and our community.
