Tower Health cutting Pottstown Hospital jobs
75 positions at Pottstown and Chestnut Hill hospitals being eliminated
WEST READING >> Several groups of employees at two Tower Health-owned hospitals have been told their positions will be eliminated as of Nov. 10. The affected positions are at Pottstown Hospital and Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia.
A total of 55 unit clerk/ unit secretary positions are affected at the two hospitals, according to Tower Health, which said it is also eliminating the role of patient sitter and patient greeter — another 20 positions.
At Pottstown Hospital, the change will affect 22 union-member unit secretaries and 10 non-union patient sitters, according to Tower Health. Pottstown Hospital does not have patient greeters.
At Chestnut Hill Hospital, 23 unit clerks, five patient greeters and five patient sitters will be affected — all of them union members.
“I’ve worked here 40 years, so this news was devastating,” Linda Heater, unit secretary at Pottstown Hospital, said in a press release issued by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the union that represents the employees. “You dedicate yourself to the patients and community, only for a new company to come in and tell you you’re not necessary.”
The changes are expected to improve care delivery and coordination on nursing units, Tower Health said Thursday in a written statement in response to questions from MediaNews Group.
“This change also supports the recent installation of the Epic electronic health record across Tower Health, which enhances the use of technology on nursing units,” the statement read.
Impacted employees were told about the changes last week. They were also told they could be considered for other positions, including the new position of unit support coordinator.
According to Tower Health, Pottstown Hospital is creating 11 unit support coordinator positions and 13 patient care assistant positions. The patient care assistant positions at Pottstown represent new union positions at the hospital, according to a Tower Health spokeswoman. Chestnut Hill Hospital is opening 18 new unit support coordinator positions.
“We value our employees and are working to place them into the new positions, based on their interest and qualifications, or to identify other positions in their current hospitals or in Tower Health,” a spokeswoman wrote in the emailed response, adding that some employees have already accepted new unit support coordinator positions. “Any individual who does not obtain a position will be provided severance. We are working closely with the impacted employees, their union representatives, and our nursing leadership.”
There was no indication how many of the impacted employees could ultimately face a layoff.
“A hospital isn’t a building or a name on the door. A hospital is its people, its employees,” Heater added.
A press release issued by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, indicated the new positions would pay between $4 and $7 less per hour. Tower Health acknowledged that the patient care assistant positions are paid at a lower rate than a unit support coordinator.
“Individual impacts will vary, however, depending upon the employee’s years of service and other factors,” Tower Health’s statement read.
Tower Health said Thursday that employees accepting a unit support coordinator position will “maintain, or slightly increase, their current pay rate.”
The announcement about the job eliminations comes just weeks after Tower Health and Drexel University were approved by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to purchase St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia for $50 million, from Philadelphia Academic Health System, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this summer.
Tower Health purchased Pottstown and Chestnut Hill hospitals in Sept. 2017, along with Brandywine Hospital in Caln Township, Jennersville Hospital in Penn Township in southern Chester County and Phoenixville Hospital in Phoenixville. The health system paid previous owner Community Health Systems Inc. of Franklin, Tenn. $418 million for the properties. None of the other hospitals owned by West Reading-based Tower Health were included in the announcement.
According to published reports, Tower Health reported an operating loss of $167.9 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The Tower Health System also includes Reading Hospital; Tower Health Urgent Care; Reading Hospital Rehabilitation at Wyomissing; Reading Hospital School of
“I’ve worked here 40 years, so this news was devastating. You dedicate yourself to the patients and community, only for a new company to come in and tell you you’re not necessary.” — Linda Heater, unit secretary at Pottstown Hospital
Health Sciences in West Reading; and home healthcare services provided by TowerHealth at Home.
SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania represents certified nursing assistants, transporters, unit secretaries, service workers, technicians and other health care employees at the hospitals.
In December, union members at Pottstown Hospital voted to approve a new three-year union contract after reaching an agreement with Tower Health.