Suburban Community Hospital in Montco to close its ER and become a specialty behavioral health care facility

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Less than a year after Suburban Community Hospital in East Norriton became a smaller 60-bed micro hospital last summer, the facility will again transition to serve a new purpose, this time as a specialty behavioral health care campus.

Prime Healthcare, the hospital’s California-based owner, told staff Friday that it will operate 15 geriatric psychiatry beds to specifically serve older and aging patients with mental health needs in the Montgomery County area.

The hospital’s emergency department, as it currently functions, will close, and other general acute care services will end at an unspecified date.

The facility will be renamed the Suburban Behavioral Health Campus of Roxborough Memorial Hospital, which Prime also owns along with Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol.

In a statement, Prime said the transition “is a direct response to the increased and unmet need for mental and behavioral health services in Southeast Pennsylvania and across our nation.”

“By expanding access to vital mental health services, investing in exceptional care, and supporting our teams, we are proud to carry forward our legacy of excellence and community service,” Dr. Sonia Mehta, CEO and chief medical officer of Prime Healthcare Region II, said in a statement.

However, hospital staff said the change is less of an expansion and more of a “re-opening” of mental health services that Prime shuttered in 2023 when it closed Suburban’s behavioral health unit serving people 55 and older.

Emergency room registered nurse Terena Stinson, who has worked at the hospital for 35 years and is the union co-president of Suburban General Nurses’ Association, called the loss of acute care and general emergency department services “severe losses” for patients.

“There’s no way to spin that, although I’m sure Prime will try,” Stinson said in a statement. “People in need of emergent care will objectively have fewer options, and many will be forced to go farther when seconds can mean the difference between life and death.”

The nearest emergency rooms are Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital in East Norriton and Jefferson Abington Hospital in Abington.

Prime did not respond to questions about staffing changes, including whether the transition to a specialty health campus would result in layoffs, but a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry this month showed that 109 positions at Suburban would be terminated as of July 5.

This latest round of layoffs comes after over 20 workers were let go last year when Prime converted the hospital, which was once a 126-bed facility, into a micro hospital.

“They’ve left the community in the lurch and they’ve cut staff, severely paring our numbers and bringing less and less employment to the region,” said Shannan Giambrone, a 25-year veteran registered nurse and member of Suburban General Nurses’ Association, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals labor union.

Prime officials said graduate medical education programs will continue through Roxborough Memorial Hospital.

The California for-profit health care company, which operates all three of its Pennsylvania hospitals through its 501(c)(3) charity foundation, said it was “grateful for support from Commonwealth leaders who share our commitment to expanding access to mental health services,” though it did not name any specific individuals.