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CLEVELAND, Ohio— A judge has rejected Bedford’s last-minute attempt to prevent University Hospitals from closing a facility that has served its residents since 1928.
Late Thursday afternoon, the city filed a motion in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seeking a restraining order to legally prevent UH from closing its Bedford Medical Center on Friday. Judge Steven Gall rejected the motion.
Gall’s decision was not listed on the court’s docket Friday, and it is unclear why he decided the way he did. But Bedford Mayor Stan Koci said the jurist made the decision Thursday night.
Gall has set a hearing for 1 p.m. Tuesday on the matter, though it is uncertain what issues will be covered. Koci said he was disappointed with the ruling.
“We’ll survive it, but there will be some implications,” Koci said. “The city loses a hospital that has been with us for 100 years. This will add times to [emergency calls]; paramedics will have to drive farther. It will hurt the businesses nearby.”
In a statement released Friday, the city’s manager, Mike Mallis, said: “We have been having good faith talks with UH for over a year, and they assured us that Bedford hospital was not closing. Once we found out about the closure, we asked them to reconsider or delay the closing at minimum.
“We had these talks all the way through Aug. 8, when they abruptly pulled the plug last minute. We were working to try to resolve this amicably with UH before we were forced to file a last-minute motion with the court.”
The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com reached out to Gall’s office, as well as attorneys for the city.
In a statement, UH called the city’s legal effort “without merit.”
“The decision to move inpatient care and emergency department from UH Bedford Medical Center was difficult and was not taken lightly,” the hospital’s statement said. “But the direct result of that decision is higher quality care for the community, as UH is now able to utilize staff more effectively.
“[Emergency department] and inpatient services at UH Bedford Medical Center have discontinued today as scheduled and shifted to nearby UH Ahuja (6.2 miles away). Patients in Bedford are still be able to see their physicians for appointments at the medical office buildings.”
UH announced last month that it planned to close the hospital in 30 days, citing staffing shortages, particularly nurses, as the reason. The building will remain open for outpatient primary care and preventive medical services, but inpatient services would cease.
At the same time it announced the closing of its Bedford facility, UH also said it would close its hospital in Richmond Heights.
“Our hospitals in Bedford and Richmond Heights are among the smallest and least utilized within UH. Consolidating services to nearby locations enables us to staff more efficiently during this critical time,” Dr. Paul Hinchey, UH’s interim chief operating officer and president, UH Community Delivery Network told The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com in July.
In place of the services that are leaving, UH plans to start new programs and services focusing on wellness and safety, maternal and child health, food security and workforce development.
On Thursday, the city filed a motion seeking the injunction that said UH’s decision to close Bedford hospital amounts to racial discrimination that will block or significantly limit the range of needed healthcare and emergency medical services from the predominantly African American populations of Bedford and its neighboring communities.
The hospital opened in 1928 as Bedford Municipal Hospital. It was renamed the Community Hospital of Bedford in 1979. UH purchased it in 1993.
When the decision was announced, UH said that no jobs would be lost. All of the more than 600 caregivers — 337 at UH Richmond Heights and 280 at UH Bedford — would be offered jobs at other UH facilities.
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