Protesters of hospital closing send Nordenberg a message
By: Michael Macagnone / Senior Staff Writer
Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 in News
Tony Buba has a message for the chancellor: Keep UPMC Braddock from closing.
Buba was one of about 50 people from the organization Save Our Community Hospitals who marched to Chancellor Mark Nordenberg’s house on Devonshire Street this weekend to give him a letter from Braddock community officials.
But their plan didn’t work out perfectly. A University spokesman told the gatherers Nordenberg wasn’t home at the time. He was traveling, Buba said.
So Braddock Council member Tina Doose, who was with the protesters, delivered the letter to a Pitt policeman at the door of Nordenberg’s home. The letter asks Nordenberg, a member of UPMC’s Board of Directors, to delay closing UPMC Braddock for 18 months. That would give the community time to find another organization to take over the hospital, according to the letter.
UPMC announced in mid-October that it planned to close its Braddock Hospital Jan. 31, this Sunday. A UPMC news release cited declining inpatient usage by the community and a lack of return on investment in the hospital.
UPMC lost $27 million over the past six years through Braddock Hospital and could lose far more if the hospital remained open, according to the release.
Paul Wood, vice president of public relations for UPMC, was not available for comment Monday. Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Robert Hill did say in an e-mail, “We hope to have the information to respond on Tuesday.”
3 Responses to “Protesters of hospital closing send Nordenberg a message”
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I’m impressed with the planning that this group did.
They marched to deliver a letter to someone who was not home, and they addressed this letter to the head of the university- not the university medical center, a separate entity.
I’m also impressed by their careful consideration of the issues involved. They ask that UPMC lose money, just so they can have a hospital that few people even use.
Way to go.
I reckon you fuck to ameliorate a bit the program and usability of your journal.
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I don’t think Braddock Hospital has ever had a great reputation. I wonder why UPMC bothered to take over the facility if they had no plans to upgrade operations and make everything more attractive to patients in need of medical care. I’ve visited the hospital many times over the past several years. Initially, everything was sparkling clean and seemed well managed. However during subsequent visits, I found the wait for care in the emergency room was painfully long. The floors were not clean. The furniture was worn and dirty. In patient rooms, trash overflowed the cans. An accumulation of dirt was visible on the windowsills. Patients had to have permission to walk down the hall for a shower. The smell of old urine was overwhelming on certain floors. Is it any wonder that people preferred to seek care in other hospitals? Oddly, the hospital was always full of people. The many lots owned by UPMC were always full of cars. Is it really true Braddock Hospital was losing money? Or is it more likely that UPMC had to cut corners to finance a more high profile location in Monroeville?