Catholic Health's Mercy Hospital of Buffalo (N.Y.) will keep the emergency department at the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center in Orchard Park, N.Y., closed for the next several weeks, the health system announced Nov. 18.
The health system expected to reopen emergency services Nov. 18, after temporarily closing the services on Nov. 9. However, Mercy Hospital received permission from the New York State Department of Health to keep the emergency department closed because of continued healthcare staffing shortages in the region and a rise in COVID-19 patients at area hospitals, according to a Catholic Health news release.
Emergency services at the care center site are now expected to reopen by Jan. 3, although hospital officials said they will continue to look for opportunities to reopen them sooner if possible.
The continued closure of the care center emergency department comes as Catholic Health has restored services at Mercy Hospital after a five-week strike that began Oct. 1 at the facility. Workers who were on strike returned to work Nov. 10.
"As we continue to work through the staffing constraints that are affecting all area healthcare providers, as well as care for the alarming increase in COVID-19 patients, our first priority is to maintain full services at Mercy Hospital's main emergency department on Abbott Road [in Buffalo]," hospital President Eddie Bratko said in a news release. "Staff from the MACC have been reassigned to Mercy Hospital as we concentrate our resources on supporting our caregivers at the hospital and meeting the needs of our most acutely ill patients."
Catholic Health said cardiac rehabilitation services at the Orchard Park facility will be temporarily relocated to the Sisters Metabolic Center for Wellness at St. Joseph Campus in Cheektowaga, N.Y.
All other outpatient services will reopen at the Mercy Ambulatory Care Center on Nov. 18.