About two months after the Bradford Regional Medical Center ended its inpatient and emergency department services, the former hospital's leaders are renaming the building "Bradford Medical Park."
New York-based Kaleida Health owns the former hospital in Bradford and ended several services in May, citing escalating financial pressures, a shrinking rural population and Pennsylvania restrictions that kept them from converting it to an outpatient emergency center.
The next closest hospital emergency department is in Olean, New York, which is about a half hour away and also owned by Kaleida Health. Bradley Chapman, the president of Olean General Hospital, said in a press release Friday that "healthcare delivery has evolved," but that they're still committed to Bradford.
"Bradford Medical Park is more than a new name; it represents our commitment to maintaining and growing outpatient healthcare services for this community," Chapman said.
The Bradford Medical Park still offers certain outpatient services, including primary care, pediatrics, women's health, cardiology and general surgery, but many community members say they're worried about the lack of an emergency department and want to see it reopened.
Since the ER closed, first responders in Bradford say ambulance time on each call has doubled.
LECOM, the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, is in negotiations to acquire parts of the Bradford Medical Park, but those plans don’t include having an emergency department.
State leaders highlight other efforts to preserve rural healthcare access
Sen. Cris Dush and Rep. Martin Causer, whose districts both include Bradford, recently highlighted a new $1.25 million state grant to expand Universal Primary Care's Bradford facility.
“Given the major healthcare challenges we are facing locally, UPC’s desire to grow here and enhance access to primary care, women’s/maternal healthcare, dental care and more in our community is truly a godsend,” Causer said.
Sen. Cris Dush said the money from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program will go toward new exam rooms, dental clinical rooms, behavioral health suites, an on-site lab and on-site pharmacy. Dush said UPC also plans to launch a healthcare workforce training hub in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
“With five of the seven counties I serve being declared a ‘maternity care desert,’ preserving and expanding rural healthcare access at UPC Bradford is of paramount importance to me,” Dush said.
The Bradford hospital ended labor and delivery services in 2019.
