BROWNSVILLE, Pa. -- Former Steelers Coach Bill Cowher walks with arms upright and triumphant in a front page photograph from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jan. 8, 2006, in an edition of the newspaper contained in a vending box inside this town's hospital lobby.
The newspapers in the box have not been changed since that Sunday last year because it was the last day the hospital was open for business.
Tara Hospital, as the former Brownsville General Hospital was briefly known, was open for only a few months as a for-profit concern when the new owners abruptly closed the doors without any prior notice.
"It was a disgrace; it never should have happened," said Frank Ricco, a Brownsville businessman who was a board member of Brownsville General Hospital for nearly 30 years.
Now, Mr. Ricco and others in the community are bringing hospital services back to Brownsville with a plan to reopen the hospital in the next few months. The new hospital will be called Brownsville Tri-County Hospital, a new name because the old name of Brownsville General Hospital is unavailable because it is part of a bankruptcy case in Pittsburgh.
The three counties to which the name refers are Fayette, Greene and Washington.
Brownsville has had a hospital for most of the past 100 years, so the loss of its medical facility was a blow. Residents of the area have been forced for the past 19 months to seek hospital care 12 miles away at Uniontown Hospital or 20 miles away at Mon Valley Hospital in Monongahela.
"The simple fact is, from a safety standpoint, having a hospital right here in the community makes a big difference," said Jack Lawver, Brownsville council president.
The road to opening the new hospital had some detours through the closing of the old one because of the bankruptcy filing after Tara Hospital closed.
In late 2004, the board of the nonprofit Brownsville General Hospital was faced with an aging facility and declining revenue. As a result, the board entertained an offer from a group of doctors to turn over the reins of the hospital to a for-profit board.
The nonprofit board spent $150,000 in legal fees to ensure, among other things, the hospital would remain open in the event the for-profit entity went belly up. With the assurance the facility would be operated properly and remain open, the board agreed to turn over control.
"Everyone felt that this was the way to go because the hospital was in such dire straits at the time," said Norma Ryan, a longtime community leader who was Brownsville's mayor at the time the transfer of control occurred. She also was appointed as the community representative on the Tara Hospital board.
But when the renamed Tara Hospital closed on Jan. 8, 2006, it took the community and the board by surprise -- not to mention the 260 employees who learned they no longer had jobs.
"It was like a death, it truly was like a death," Ms. Ryan said.
It took awhile for people in the community to mount an effort to bring the hospital back. The nonprofit board was not able to get control back from the bankruptcy court until October, and it has taken months to sort through the bureaucracy of securing the facility, lining up funding for new equipment and navigating the state licensing process.
The board has obtained a line of credit from a local bank and has applied for state funds, with the help of local legislators. The hospital needs "millions," said Mr. Ricco, who is the chairman of the board of the new Brownsville Tri-County Hospital.
"We asked for a lot because we want to create a new image at the hospital," said Mr. Ricco, owner of Brownsville Bus Lines.
The new administration may find out this week about its license during a meeting with officials from the state Department of Health, said Richard Hritz, a Johnstown native who is the hospital's new chief executive officer.
Initially, the hospital will offer emergency room and medical-surgical services. The services will be expanded based on the revenue that comes in and the usage by the community, Mr. Hritz said.
The hospital's success will depend on a couple of major issues, the participation of local doctors and community support. Local officials are optimistic they will receive both.
"I really believe it's going to work, but it's going to be up to the community to stand up and say they want to use the hospital for their medical needs," Mr. Ryan said.
The hospital is operating with a skeleton staff at the moment, but plans to open with a staff of 50. Administrators will hire registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants.
The hospital is taking applications from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. Applicants can also forward a resume to Brownsville Tri-County Hospital, 125 Simpson Road, Brownsville, Pa. 15417.
First Published: August 5, 2007, 2:00 a.m.
