Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said today he will hold a public hearing Wednesday in Braddock regarding UPMC's decision to close its hospital there.

The 6 p.m. meeting will be held in at Braddock Carnegie Library, where on Thursday Braddock Council President Jesse Brown accused the county executive of favoring the construction of a UPMC hospital in Monroeville at the expense to Braddock residents.

After a news conference on property assessments, Mr. Onorato wrote off those criticisms, attributing them to frustration. Mr. Onorato said he didn't know about the closure of the hospital until about 6 hours before the medical giant made the announcement.

"One of the saddest things about the announcement of the closure of UPMC Braddock is how it's pitting resident against resident, elected official against elected officials as opposed to dealing with really the main culprit here and that is figuring out why UPMC is closing," he said. "I'm not going to point a finger at any public official that might have criticized me ... I get their frustration."

Though other public officials seemed resigned to the fact that the facility will be shuttered, Mr. Onorato said he was not willing to give up the fight.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to keep a presence there, to keep that hospital open."UPMC officials have said they are closing the facility because it is not used enough by local residents.

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