Penn State Health St. Joseph officials say it’s not yet clear how it could be affected by Tower Health’s decision to close of some of its health care services as part of its COVID-19 restructuring. 

Tower Health announced June 16 that said it was laying off 1,000 employees, or 8% of the 12,233 workers in its network. Officials said at the time that the network had experienced a revenue loss totaling $212 million since the coronavirus crisis began, while experiencing additional expenses to protect workers and patients from COVID-19.

Penn State Health St. Joseph officials did not want to speak directly about Tower Health’s situation, and said they couldn’t predict whether they will see an increase in services due to Tower’s cuts in jobs and services.

“But (our) priority is, as always, to provide high-quality care to the communities we serve,” said Joseph Frank, interim president of the hospital in Bern Township.

“We are here for patients who need us,” he said. “We will support patients who are seeking care and do all we can to accommodate physicians who are seeking to refer patients.”

Regarding COVID-19, Frank said people can receive safe care in a variety of ways through the hospital.

“For those who need it soon, we have a strong network of community physician practices in the Berks region,” he said. “For those who need it quickly, we have three urgent care facilities in Berks County; and for those who need it now, we have a 24/7 emergency room in Bern Township that also is certified as a chest pain center and stroke center.

“All of our locations are following Safe Care processes we put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including screening staff and patients, and requiring face masks and social distancing.”

The hospital has also suffered financially during the pandemic, but has not had to reduce or furlough staff, he said.

“We will continue to very closely monitor our resources while managing costs to ensure continued safe operations,” he said. “We are fortunate to be part of Penn State Health as the system’s financial stability, and its academic medical center clinical expertise, were vital to amplifying the ability of our staff to respond as effectively as we did to COVID-19.”

The hospital has a dedicated COVID-19 page with daily updates on cases and other information at yourcare.pennstatehealth.org/acton/fs/blocks/showLandingPage/a/34718/p/p-002c/t/page/fm/0.