Closure of Pennsylvania Hospice House Ignites Community Protests

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Somerset health system is halting inpatient services at its Pennsylvania-based hospice facility, effective Aug. 1. Closure of the In Touch Hospice center has inflamed the community, with cries growing louder to urge UPMC to reconsider the move.

The health system cited declining patient admissions as the main reason for ending services. This was largely driven by trends of more serious illness and end-of-life care moving into the home, according UPMC officials.

“In recent years, we have seen changes in the Somerset home health care and hospice patient volumes,” Sarah Deist, UPMC Somerset’s director of corporate communications, told local news. “And [we] have decided to redesign the structure of these services to maintain quality, more efficiently serve the community and protect sustainability. With many more patients receiving care in their homes, we will continue to enhance our services to meet this need.”

UPMC in 2019 merged with Somerset Hospital. Part of the agreement was that the home health and hospice agencies eventually would be consolidated into the UPMC network, Diest continued.

The health system operates 40 hospitals and more than 700 physician offices and outpatient centers across western and central Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, as well as globally.

The 10-bed In Touch Hospice facility opened in 2009, seeing declining patient admissions during the past seven years, according to local news. Hospice patients will now receive inpatient care at the Somerset Hospital and also in the home. UPMC officials indicated plans in the works to increase its nursing staff and continue supporting its current ranks as the closure moves ahead.

“UPMC is working with employees during this transition to make sure they are put in the best new positions to succeed,” Diest stated.

UPMC will now use the center for administrative offices of its hospice and home health services.

More than 100 community members protested earlier this month in response to the hospice facility’s closure. Families shared stories of the significance of quality care their loved ones had received at the center. A petition was signed urging UPMC to keep the facility open with a reduced number of patient beds.

Protestors expressed outcries that the health system should have consulted the community to assess the center’s need before closing.

Hospice utilization among Medicare decedents in Pennsylvania reached 48.4% during 2018, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

Though this fell slightly under the national average of 50.3% that year, aging demographics are anticipated to swing the scale of demand upward. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that seniors will make up more than a quarter (27.5%) of the state’s population by 2030.

Growing demand for serious illness and end-of-life care has made the availability of hospice care even more vital to Pennsylvanians.

The move came as a shock to many, with protestors telling local news that it “came out of the blue” and that “UPMC should think with their heart, not their money.”

However, financial reasons were not part of the mix, according to the company. Shifts in patient care setting preferences had a strong influence in the decision to close the center, according to UPMC Somerset President and CEO Andrew Rush.

“I understand. I know it might be upsetting, but it’s not about money whatsoever,” Rush said in response to protesters, according to local news. “We always evaluate and focus on quality care, and we are going to continue to do that.”

In Touch Hospice’s sunset is the latest in a series of hospice closures, inpatient unit shutdowns or sales programs in the Keystone State.

Another Pennsylvania-based hospice unit in Delaware County closed earlier this year, also owned by a health system and located in a hospital setting. Similar to UPMC, Crozer Health ended inpatient hospice services at its 10-bed unit in Taylor Hospice due to declining patient admissions, along with staffing shortages.

This, too, sparked community outrage.