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Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, February 13, 2020:
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District) expresses concerns over recent news reports that Mercy Hospital Philadelphia will shut down its inpatient services.
A
Chair
recognizes
Councilwoman
got
the
air
Thank
You
council
president,
if
you
have,
as
you
have
heard,
Mercy
Hospital
in
West
Philadelphia
is
facing
the
closure
of
its
impatient
and
acute
care
services,
along
with
its
emergency
room.
The
loss
of
these
services
could
have
a
dramatic
and
detrimental
impact
on
the
ability
of
west
and
southwest
Philadelphians
to
access
medical
care
in
our
city.
To
give
you
an
idea
in
2018,
Mercy
Philadelphia
hospital
had
near
7700
admissions
and
48,000
visits
to
the
emergency
department.
A
Mercy
serves
as
a
vital
health
care
option
for
many
poor
and
working-class
people
in
the
third
District
and
like
many
struggling
urban
hospitals,
its
patients
are
a
mixture
of
those
on
Medicaid,
those
on
Medicare
and
the
uninsured.
Its
closure
is
reminiscent
of
the
closure
of
hanaman
last
year
and
the
closure
of
st.
A
900
people
work
at
Mercy
Philadelphia,
and
many
of
them
are
members
of
my
community
as
well
last
night,
our
heard
from
one
employee
who
is
worried
sick.
She
has
a
child
in
school
bills
to
pay
and
no
sense
of
when
the
hospital
is
closing
or
what
it
means
for
her
job
or
the
patients
in
her
care.
She
heard
of
the
news
through
the
press.
Mercy's
workers
deserve
to
be
cared
for
and
respected
through
this
process,
and
my
office
will
be
watching
the
situation
closely.
A
I
accidentally
will
be
transparent
about
its
plans
and
communicate
proactively
with
City
Council
and
the
public
as
things
develop.
I
also
asked
for
our
city's
other
health
care
providers
to
step
up
and
help
meet
the
critical
needs
that
will
be
created
by
this
law
and
I.
Look
forward
to
working
with
my
colleagues
on
council
and
in
the
administration
on
a
path
forward
for
partnering,
with
our
remaining
urban
hospitals
in
this
difficult
landscape
and
providing
equitable
health
care
to
everyone
in
our
city.
Our
citizens
deserve
nothing
less.
Thank
you.
Thank
You,
Councilwoman,.