Geisinger is targeting 2026 to begin work on a neonatal intensive care unit at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, according to a press release touting major investments in the Hill Section hospital.<\/p>\n
And while the NICU project would be contained within the hospital\u2019s current footprint, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti confirmed Monday that her administration is proposing zoning changes in the area of GCMC to accommodate the facility\u2019s physical expansion and help address the region\u2019s pronounced health care needs. The specific zoning changes the Cognetti administration will back were not immediately clear, but the forthcoming proposal comes after a zoning battle in 2022 and 2023 stymied Geisinger\u2019s previous expansion plans for GCMC.<\/p>\n
A NICU there providing invaluable intensive medical care for newborns requiring it would complement the NICU at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp. Currently the only NICU in Scranton is located at Regional Hospital of Scranton\u2019s Moses Taylor Hospital campus.<\/p>\n
Regional and Moses Taylor are included in a pending acquisition deal that would see the nonprofit Tenor Health Foundation acquire Commonwealth Health\u2019s financially struggling Scranton hospitals and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital from for-profit Community Health Systems Inc., Commonwealth\u2019s Tennesse-based parent company. Local officials have expressed cautious optimism about the sale amid concern that Regional and Moses Taylor, and the NICU there, could close absent acquisition by a new buyer.<\/p>\n
The press release Geisinger issued Monday says renovations are underway to add 19 new postpartum beds and more \u201cpre-and post-operative care to GCMC\u2019s labor and delivery capacity,\u201d a project that\u2019s expected to reach a 12-bed milestone next month and be completed in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo provide more onsite care for newborns, GCMC has upgraded its nursery from a well-baby nursery to a continuing care nursery capable of caring for babies who may need help breathing or regulating their temperature but do not need the higher acuity care of a neonatal intensive care unit,\u201d the release notes. \u201cGeisinger leadership is targeting next year to begin work on a NICU, which, when complete, will provide care for babies with more complicated conditions and need for critical care right in Scranton.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hospital is also adding 24 emergency medicine treatment areas to its first floor, addressing a community need for more emergency care. That change is made possible by moving a variety of outpatient specialty services from GCMC to Geisinger\u2019s West Olive Street facility at the former Ice Box complex, officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe multi-faceted plan for improvement within the hospital\u2019s current footprint includes installing a second MRI machine for diagnostic imaging and building an additional suite for endoscopic procedures,\u201d the release notes. \u201cThese enhancements to care capacity will be supported by the growth of Geisinger\u2019s patient transport services in Lackawanna County.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ongoing and recent renovations, including the \u201copening or reactivation of 41 inpatient beds earlier this year,\u201d represent a nearly $50 million investment in the city, per the release.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are laser-focused on providing as much safe, quality acute care as possible within the bounds of Geisinger Community Medical Center,\u201d Dr. Navneet Dang, GCMC\u2019s chief medical officer, said in the release. \u201cAs more residents of Lackawanna County and surrounding communities come to us for care, we need all these resources to meet their needs. But to deliver the best care possible, we still need to do much more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geisinger has been grappling with capacity constraints at GCMC, particularly in the hospital\u2019s near-chronically crowded emergency room, for years.<\/p>\n
Those challenges motivated Geisinger\u2019s concerted but ultimately fruitless push in 2022 and 2023 for zoning that would accommodate a massive GCMC expansion in the Hill Section.<\/p>\n
The zoning issue was contentious and Geisinger\u2019s plans faced opposition from a passionate group of Hill Section neighbors wary of the expansion project\u2019s potential impact on their neighborhood and quality of life.<\/p>\n
The neighbors ultimately prevailed in the zoning battle that played out before Scranton City Council, with council voting in April 2023 to amend Scranton\u2019s then-proposed new zoning ordinance and map to change the odd side of Colfax Avenue\u2019s 200 block from a civic zone with a 100-foot building height limit to a town-city institutional zone with a maximum permitted height of 45 feet. The change effectively restricted the height of a new parking garage Geisinger had planned for the odd side of the 200 block, with Geisinger officials describing the garage as an enabling project that would have allowed for the creation of more clinical space.<\/p>\n
The zoning amendment was a blow for Geisinger, and the broader GCMC expansion never materialized.<\/p>\n
But Geisinger said and Cognetti confirmed Monday that her administration will make another appeal for zoning changes in the interest of increased health care capacity. The changes, which would require council approval, would give Geisinger \u201cthe flexibility they need to continue to grow health care here in Scranton,\u201d Cognetti said.<\/p>\n
The mayor said the zoning changes would be in areas in the immediate vicinity of the hospital where Geisinger already owns property, including the site of the former John J. Audubon Elementary School in Colfax Avenue\u2019s 400 block.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have in Geisinger an institution that has been investing,\u201d Cognetti said. \u201cThey want to continue to invest. They need the flexibility with the properties that they own up at GCMC to be able to continue to expand and, as mayor, (I) very adamantly want to see them be able to have that flexibility so we can maintain great health care here in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Check back for updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geisinger is targeting 2026 to begin work on a neonatal intensive care unit at Geisinger Community Medical Center…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":370765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,13162,728,95967,50,2830,13163,23939,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-370764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-lackawanna-county","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-luzerne-county","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-pennsylvania","16":"tag-scranton","17":"tag-top-stories-stt","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115529212435968932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}