Pennsylvania to move ahead on closing rural health centers
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HARRISBURG – A Commonwealth Court judge has denied a request for an injunction from a nurses union to halt a state plan to close almost half of Pennsylvania’s state health centers and furlough 26 public health nurses.
Arguments for an injunction in the case were heard earlier this week.
The Service Employee International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania had said the pending closures were not legal without approval of the state Legislature, according to a 1996 law.
Commonwealth Court Judge Keith Quigley’s ruling addressed only the injunction; the underlying lawsuit is still active but the ruling means the Department of Health can move ahead on its plan.
Among the centers slated to be closed and consolidated: centers in Beaver and Armstrong counties would close to merge with a Butler County health center; Greene County’s center would be consolidated with the Washington County health center; and the Monessen State Health Center in Westmoreland County would close to be consolidated with the Westmoreland County health center in Greensburg, according to union officials.
Many of the centers are in rural areas and serve the uninsured.