Braving the cold and braced against the wind on a chilly autumn morning, nurses and healthcare workers at Pottstown Hospital stood out front of the institution on Monday to call for an end to planned layoffs and service cuts at the medical facility.
“This is the first step and the next step is shutting down the hospital,” worried Johnny Corson, president of the Pottstown NAACP and a cancer patient at Pottstown Hospital.
On Friday, Berks County-based Tower Health, owner of the hospital, announced a plan to layoff 350 employees as well as end critical care services and close the Cancer Center care at Pottstown Hospital.
Among those laid off will be medical staff at Pottstown Hospital in Montgomery County.
These changes would take effect on January 16, 2026.
Workers outside the hospital also claimed the move would end in-patient surgeries at the facility, but Tower Health disputed that claim in a statement.
‘The next step is closure’
On Monday, Corson said that anyone who cares about the healthcare of the Pottstown community needed to call their legislator and demand action, because these drastic shutdowns may be the first steps toward complete closure of the facility.
“They plan on closing this hospital,” he said. “When you cut the services that they have, with cancer, the ICU, the next step is closure.”
A potential closure of the hospital was on the minds of local Democratic State Reps. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, and Paul Friel, D-Chester, who were both on hand to denounce the move by Tower Health to layoff hundreds of workers and end services.
“What’s happening here reflects a system that too often puts financial performance ahead of community and patient health outcomes,” said Rep. Friel.
Friel noted that all of his children were born at the hospital. In fact, he said, the staff at Pottstown Hospital saved the lives of his wife and his son when she experienced issues during pregnancy.
For Rep. Ciresi, the planned layoffs and shutdowns showed that the hospital’s ownership wasn’t working in service to the community it claims to serve.
“Healthcare is needed for every single person who is here, including those who run this institution,” said Ciresi. “Healthcare is needed for everyone of us. It’s part of our life. Shouldn’t we have the option of having great healthcare in our community?”
Lori Domin, a registered nurse at Pottstown Hospital and president of Pottstown Nurses United, said that the move is just another step along a long line of closures and cuts that Tower Health has made since it took over the hospital nearly a decade ago.
“First thing they did, before the ink was even dry on the sale agreement, was to close our pediatric unit and not long after that, they closed our maternity unit,” said Domin, of the closure that happened in 2020. “So, our mothers and babies have to go further for care and now they want to hack at us some more.”
Maureen May, also a registered nurse at Pottstown Hospital, and president of the Pottstown branch of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents 275 frontline nurses at Pottstown Hospital, argued that the move just highlights a need for healthcare reform in this country.
“Our healthcare system is broken. This is just another example of how broken it is,” said May. “Our communities need to rise up and do what we are doing today to make the difference in how we need to change healthcare.”
She told anyone who has issue with Tower Health’s latest move to visit Shameontowerhealth.com.
Also, during the day, Stephanie Henrick, the Democratic mayor of Pottstown, joined the rally, calling for Temple Health to reverse its decision on layoffs and cuts before they take effect in January.
“I have nothing nice to say about Tower Health anymore,” she said. “Our hospital has never been as bad as it is today, owned by a for-profit company who keeps chipping away at our hospital one department after another.”
Though the mayor called Tower Health a “for-profit company,” the healthcare system is a nonprofit organization.
Tower Health says plans for cuts, layoffs ‘were not made lightly’
In a statement from Tower Health, the ownership group countered claims made at the morning rally that in-patient surgeries would end at the hospital.
In a statement, the health care ownership company said in-patient surgeries at Pottstown Hospital will continue.
Tower Health also operates Reading Hospital in West Reading and Phoenixville Hospital in Chester County. The company also co-owns Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
The company said the planned cuts and layoffs came “out of necessity to ensure that we can chart our own path forward and continue service our communities.”
Tower Health’s full statement:
“In the face of the major headwinds confronting every health system nationwide, we have taken important steps to transform our operations and build a more nimble and resilient organization. These difficult decisions were not made lightly. They were made out of necessity to ensure that we can chart our own pathway forward and continue serving our communities. Our commitment to award-winning, high-quality care and patient safety remains unwavering.
“These changes are not simply about reducing costs. They reflect a strategic priority to reinvest savings in the pillars that power our future. That includes expanding our provider network, accelerating innovation through AI and technology adoption and enhancing the overall patient experience. Equally important, as part of our three-year strategic plan, we will focus on strengthening the Tower Experience. This means empowering our employees holistically, fostering growth and development, and creating an environment where every team member feels valued and thrives in support of our patients and one another.
“With a stronger financial foundation, Tower Health is well-positioned to be the provider of choice in every community we serve, meeting the evolving care needs of our patients today and in the future.”
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
