East Norriton’s Suburban Community Hospital will end its run as a full-service facility next month and officially reopen as a behavioral health center for older adults, writes Sarah Gantz for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The transformation follows years of dwindling patient volumes and staffing shortfalls. Though licensed for 126 beds, the hospital averaged just 23 patients per day in 2023. Last summer, Suburban downgraded to a ‘micro hospital’. With this designation, they retained an emergency department but eliminated surgical and ICU services.
Inspection reports from the Pennsylvania Department of Health detailed several troubling incidents last year, including multiple days when the hospital lacked the staff to perform CT scans or cover operating rooms during off-hours.
Despite citations, Prime Healthcare Foundation, which owns Suburban, said the hospital’s conversion was not related to the safety violations. Instead, officials framed the change as a response to unmet behavioral health needs in the region, particularly for patients aged 55 and up.
The new Suburban Behavioral Health Campus of Roxborough Memorial Hospital will retain 37 full-time employees.
After the shift, residents seeking emergency care will need to travel to Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital in Norristown.
Read more about Suburban Community Hospital’s pivot to a focus on behavioral health in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
