Two Ohio hospitals are slated to close their doors

Two Ohio hospitals are slated for closure as Steward Health Care continues selling its facilities, and in some cases, shutting them down.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he's disappointed by the closure of two hospitals in Warren, Ohio. Steward Health Care, which is in bankruptcy, says it has no other options.

Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, both based in Warren, Ohio, will be closing next month, Steward has announced.

Trumbull Regional, which has 280 beds, has been serving the Warren area for more than a century. Hillside provides 69 beds for those recovering from strokes, brain injuries and other serious conditions. Steward also plans to shut down several other clinics and associated facilities.

Both hospitals are slated to close Sept. 19, WKBN-TV and other Ohio media reported.

Steward filed for bankruptcy in the spring and has been working to sell its 31 hospitals.

In a statement to WFMJ-TV, Steward said its financial difficulties and unsuccessful efforts to sell the two hospitals leave the system with no other option but to close the facilities. Steward said it remains hopeful that other qualified bidders will emerge but the plans are for the facilities to shut down next month.

“Steward Health Care has been actively working, along with its lenders and other key stakeholders, to sell or transition Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital to new operators. However, despite every effort made to attract qualified buyers, there have been no actionable offers received for Trumbull Regional or Hillside,” the system told WFMJ.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine lamented the planned closure of the two hospitals in Warren, a city of 39,000 just over an hour away from Cleveland. DeWine issued a joint statement with Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, director of Ohio’s Health Department, about the upcoming closure of the facilities.

“We are deeply saddened by this news. We take seriously the potential loss of any health care provider, and we understand the deep connections that can be formed between a hospital and the community it serves,” DeWine and Vanderhoff said in the statement.

“The corporate leadership of Steward Health Care must be held accountable to ensure they are actively working to support their local doctors while they work with patients and their families to find the best possible care alternative. While they have committed to do so, we will actively work with the local health care community to ensure they properly follow through on that pledge,” they said.

Ohio state officials say they are hopeful that other nearby hospitals can meet community needs. DeWine’s office noted that Mercy Health St. Joseph Hospital is based in Warren and about 1.5 miles away from Trumbull Regional. Another facility, Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, which has more than 400 beds, is less than 15 miles away.

“We will continue to monitor this situation and provide whatever support we can for the region and its health care providers,” DeWine and Vanderhoff said in their statement.

The Ohio Nurses Association is urging state officials to take steps to keep Hillside open. Nurses at Hillside were blindsided by Steward’s plans to shut down the facility, according to Rick Lucas, president and executive director of the Ohio Nurses Association. The association represents Hillside’s registered nurses.

“This decision leaves our community without crucial rehabilitation services and forces our dedicated team of nurses and health professionals into unemployment due to Steward’s unchecked greed,” Lucas said in a statement.

Even though Hillside won’t close until next month, the rehab hospital is no longer accepting new patients, the association said Thursday. Both hospitals have messages on their websites saying they are open 24/7 to care for patients.

Before Steward announced its plans to close the hospitals, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, had previously urged Steward to ensure patient care would be maintained.

Following the announcement that the facilities would shut down, Brown said in a statement, “It’s disgraceful that corporate greed has resulted in the loss of a hospital that’s been serving this community for more than 100 years. My office is monitoring this situation closely and working to support affected workers and ensure patients continue to have access to high quality care.”

A group of local business leaders has formed an organization, Warren City Hospital, with hopes of buying and improving Trumbull Regional. John A. Guarnieri of Howland, a retired businessman and president of Warren City Hospital, said earlier this month that if the hospital closes, the community’s healthcare needs wouldn’t be served.

“Our primary objective is to save the hospital and all it means for healthcare in the community,” Guarnieri said in a statement earlier this month.

An attempt to reach Steward for comment was unsuccessful.

Steward is in the midst of selling other hospitals nationwide. Orlando Health has made a $439 million bid to purchase three Steward hospitals on Florida’s east coast.

Last week, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced that she had lined up new ownership for five Steward hospitals in the state, and her administration is using eminent domain to save one facility. However, two Steward hospitals in Massachusetts are slated to shut down.