Emergency Management Coordinators fear delays in care after Sharon Regional closure

The loss of Sharon Regional Medical Center means a loss of certain health services directly in that area.

Services currently unavailable are interventional cardiology, in-person stroke neurologists and psychiatric care, and others are trying to help fill the void including UPMC Horizon Shenango Valley in Farrell. 

Sharpsville's Emergency Management Coordinator, Jared Grady, said 80 percent of those seeking emergency services in his jurisdiction utilized Sharon Regional.

"We're afraid that patients having to be transported out of the area for specialty care is going to create an environment where resources that are already stretched thin are going to be stretched even further and create a delay in care for our residents," Grady said. 

For example, if someone has signs of a heart attack and calls 911, Grandy said what would normally be a five-minute ride for crews from Sharpsville to the emergency room at Sharon Regional could be about a half hour to UPMC's Jameson Hospital in New Castle, which is the nearest hospital that has interventional cardiology.

"It's a big problem," he said, "needing to transport patients farther distances is going to negatively affect the entire industry."

Grandy also said he's concerned about the higher insurance costs if patients are traveling further distances to receive the care they need. 

"Not only are we concerned about the EMS response. This is going to have a financial concern for our borough residents as well, where now billable mileage is going to be increased, insurance-wise, or from ambulance services to our residents," he added, "We're concerned about some of our residents being able to manage that financial concern. Additionally, by losing the area's really only adult and psychiatric or pediatric psychiatric facility. Today, our police department will transport violent psychiatric patients for inpatient care to Sharon regional by needing to move those patients to other facilities. We also have a big concern that now our police officers are going to have to be out of the borough for extended periods, and we're looking at that as well."

At the same time, without UPMC, Grandy said this crisis would be far worse. 

UPMC officials said as they absorb a higher volume of patients, they're expanding certain types of care but people may have to access it in a different hospital within their three regional hospitals located in Ferrell, New Castle and Greenville.

"It's a regional play of positioning and making sure that we do not have duplicative services across the region because that really creates that long-term sustainability," President of UPMC Horizon Shenango Valley and UPMC Jameson, Dave Patton, said. 

Patton said UPMC does offer neurologists through telehealth, and they're opening a behavioral health center for adults only in the fall.

Sharon Regional was the only behavioral healthcare inpatient center for all ages.

UPMC is also looking for 50 additional healthcare workers and is holding a job fair Wednesday. 

Patton said he also wants to remind people of UPMC's service expansions that have been implemented recently across hospitals, with more to come. 

A UPMC rep also provided this statement and a breakdown of service expansions:

• "UPMC Horizon-Shenango Valley in Farrell, UPMC Horizon-Greenville and UPMC Jameson in New Castle work together to care for the community. The dedicated physicians and staff at UPMC Horizon and UPMC Jameson are here, as we always have been, to care for our community.

• Additional inpatient beds have opened at all three UPMC hospitals in the region.
• 24-7 interventional cardiology is available at UPMC Jameson, about a 15-to-20-minute drive from UPMC Horizon-Shenango Valley / Sharon Regional Medical Center.
• Our exceptional team at UPMC is growing to serve our community — we’ve hired nearly 60 new team members just within the past few weeks and have another career fair this Wednesday (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at UPMC Horizon-Shenango Valley in Farrell).
• We are always examining and meeting our community’s needs — UPMC responds to ensure the community has the care and services it needs. Just within the past year, UPMC has invested to add:
  • A new UPMC Western Behavioral Health adult unit at UPMC Jameson, set to open in 2025, providing much-needed inpatient behavioral health services.
  • A $1.5 million Emergency Department expansion at UPMC Horizon–Shenango Valley, increasing capacity by 40 patients per day.
  • A new vault for a second linear accelerator at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, enhancing access to life-saving radiation oncology treatments.
  • UPMC Children’s Rehabilitation Therapies at UPMC Jameson, offering expertise from UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
  • Expansion of the UPMC Horizon Family Medicine Residency Program, opening a new practice in New Castle to serve more people in need of a primary care physician."