2011年7月21日星期四

Geisinger plans organ transplants in Scranton

Geisinger Health System plans to expand services at Community Medical Center to include organ transplants, a wider range of cancer treatment and training doctors in emergency care in CMC's trauma center, system officials said Wednesday.

The plans could add dozens and perhaps hundreds of jobs to the local economy over the next few years.

The acquisition of CMC by Geisinger, announced Tuesday, must still be approved by the state attorney general's office and a county judge.

At a news conference announcing the acquisition, Glenn D. Steele Jr., M.D., Ph.D., spoke of Geisinger's plans to invest $158.6 million in CMC over the next seven years. Other plans for CMC include expanding its neuroscience and behavioral health programs, establishing an electronic health records system and adding doctors and other medical staff. Geisinger plans no layoffs of CMC's more than 1,400 employees,There is good integration with PayPal and most third party merchant account providers, officials said.

The system offers cancer treatment at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp. and a center in Hazleton. It offers kidney, liver and pancreas transplants at the Danville hospital. CMC surgeons remove cancerous tumors, but the hospital does not offer radiological or chemotherapy cancer treatment, spokeswoman Wendy Wilson said.

No Lackawanna County hospital performs organ transplants.Traditional Air purifier claim to clean all the air in a room.

Geisinger spokesman Matthew Van Stone said they have not determined what type of transplants would be performed at CMC. Geisinger's goal in offering transplants and cancer treatment is to provide services that local residents must now travel long distances for, Mr. Van Stone said.

"Geisinger's perspective is we offer a lot of specialties that people would be traveling to Baltimore, New York City or Philadelphia for," Mr. Van Stone said.

Mr. Van Stone said the system expects to expand CMC's staff about 5 percent a year, an estimate based on the system's typical expansion rate. Geisinger, which operates in 42 Pennsylvania counties, has about 11,000 employees working in its hospitals, local doctors offices, administrative offices and other medical centers, according to its website.

Mr. Van Stone said it is too early to tell whether Geisinger will also open new administrative offices in Scranton or at CMC, but pointed out the system has offices in downtown Danville and on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre. About 150 people work in each building, Mr. Van Stone said.

Mayor Chris Doherty said Geisinger officials have not discussed specific plans with him.

"We would look forward to working with Geisinger in establishing a presence, whether it would put a back office (or something else) in Scranton, in particular in the downtown," Mr. Doherty said.

Mr. Doherty declined to speculate on potential locations.

Two major, largely vacant buildings sit not far from the Hill Section hospital. They are the 110,000-square-foot Scranton Center at Adams Avenue and Mulberry Street and the 44,000-square-foot Mulberry Professional Plaza across from City Hall.

So far, Geisinger has announced more details of its post-acquisition plans for CMC than Community Health Systems Inc. Tennessee-based CHS bought the former Mercy Hospital, Mercy Tyler Hospital in Tunkhannock and Mercy Special Care Hospital in Nanticoke earlier this year and is in the process of buying Moses Taylor Hospital, Mid-Valley Hospital and Physicians Health Alliance Inc.

Mercy was renamed Regional Hospital of Scranton and Mercy Tyler's name was changed to Tyler Memorial Hospital, while the Mercy name was dropped from Special Care Hospital.

CHS plans to spend $68 million upgrading Regional, Tyler and Special Care over the next five years and $60 million on Moses Taylor and its affiliated hospitals, but specifics about possible new services are unknown.

Sandy Osieski, a Moses Taylor spokeswoman, said the new ownership's spending there will include upgrading and replacing medical equipment,who was responsible for tracking down Charles zentai . a modern electronic health-record keeping system and development of new services.

Moses Taylor President and Chief Executive Officer Karen Murphy, R.Unlike traditional cube puzzle ,N., Ph.D., said hospital officials know broadly the "categories of planning" they will focus on, but it is too early to say what new services the hospital might offer.

"We have not begun the clinical planning of services," she said.

Moses Taylor already offers cancer treatment, including surgery, Dr. Murphy said.

Regional Hospital spokeswoman Gladys Bernet said the hospital will upgrade "facilities and technology" and expand or develop health services, but no specific decisions have been made.

"Those decisions will come as the result of a strategic planning process that includes input from our medical staff, board of trustees and local leadership," she wrote in an email.the oil paintings for sale by special invited artist for 2011,

Regional Hospital offers cancer treatment in partnership with Northeast Radiation Oncology Center, Mrs. Bernet said.

The hospital deals will have no immediate effect at the Commonwealth Medical College, which has students who work with physicians from the area hospitals, said Lois Margaret Nora, M.D., the college's interim dean and president.

"I think both organizations have expressed the value they find in TCMC," she said. "I think that anything that increases access, improves health infrastructure and improves health of the community is a terrific thing."

On probation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education for financial difficulties and needing $54 million in the next five years, school officials have said that an affiliation or partnership could be an option to help keep the school afloat. They have not named a potential partner or said whether it could be a hospital or university.

Sarah Hofius Hall, staff writer, contributed to this story.

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