Mercy readies to take on Trumbull Regional patients

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – It’s been a day of staff meetings, conference calls and Zoom discussions between staff and administrators of Mercy Health over getting ready for the potential closure of Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital.

Dr. James Kravec, chief clinical officer with Mercy Health, says while the topic is taking on more urgency now, it has been ongoing for years.

“The good part is we have had a lot of meetings in the last 24 hours, but it wasn’t because we were creating the future, we were solidifying the plans that we’ve been working on,” Kravec said.

Mahoning County commissioners said they are concerned about the ripple effects of the closure. Commissioner Anthony Traficanti fears the shutdown of Trumbull Regional will force patients to get their care at hospitals in Youngstown and Boardman, potentially overwhelming them.

“You over-burden a system and then people get angry. They have to wait longer, people are getting sicker, and it’s just unfortunate. And then COVID was the real test to that issue, so I would love to see a hospital system come in here,” Traficanti said.

Kravec said Mercy Health has roughly 1,000 registered beds at its three area hospitals. More than 850 of those are staffed and have patients, compared to the 375 registered beds at Trumbull Regional. He said Mercy is ready to take on Steward Health patients now just as it did when the old Northside Hospital closed six years ago.

“We knew, based on what we saw with numbers, based on what we could read in the healthcare environment that was likely,” Kravec said.

Although emergency room care has been an issue for all hospitals in the region, Kravec said Mercy is adding patient beds to its emergency departments in the Valley as well as additional staffing. He added that the system’s three hospitals, walk-in facilities and urgent cares will be able to handle the increased patient load while also trying to educate the public on where to go to get the best and more efficient treatment.

“We’ve opened our tenth walk-in care for Mercy Health recently in Canfield. We’ve opened our 32nd primary care office in Hubbard,” Kravec said.

Kravec says Mercy will continue to grow its services, opening a new rehabilitation hospital later this year and a behavioral center in 2025.

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