TOWANDA, PA. (WENY) – Friday, Guthrie announced plans to change some services at Towanda Memorial Hospital over the next six months.

Officials tell WENY News Towanda Memorial Hospital has been struggling with finances and patient volumes for a few years, and those issues became more apparent because of the pandemic, which forced many hospitals to suspend elective procedures.

“We've been working for five years. We had a plan – a continued plan of recovery relative to the Towanda campus,” said Paul VerValin, Guthrie Chief Operating Officer. “However, with COVID and the financial challenges that COVID brought upon the system, it did make us pause and made us realize we had to think out of the box and do things differently – and this is one of those different things.”

As a response, Guthrie plans to merge Towanda Memorial Hospital under the license of Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre. This means operating room services will shift to Robert Packer and Troy Community Hospital.

“Eliminating surgery at Guthrie Towanda Memorial Hospital allows us to more efficiently use available resources within the larger system to support Guthrie's overall surgery program,” said VerValin.

Most current services will remain at the Towanda location, including the Emergency Department, Imaging Services, Lab Services, Outpatient Rehabilitation and Ambulance Services. The Personal Care Home and Skilled Nursing Facility will also continue to operate exactly as they are presently.

“If you are getting a surgical procedure that's getting relocated...if you were scheduled with Towanda in the past and were canceled as a result of COVID, we've already contacted you and made efforts to reschedule those procedures in another location,” said Felissa Koernig, Guthrie Towanda Memorial Hospital President.

The transition is expected to be completed by January.

Guthrie says staff in the OR and medical surgical unit – about 50 employees – will be impacted and no longer based at the Towanda location; however, most will have “opportunities to be hired at other Guthrie facilities in Sayre or Troy.