Volume 30 No. 9
August 2014
Kindred Hospital to be absorbed by LifeCare By By Cristina Holtzer Northside residents seeking long-term hospital care will soon need to travel an extra five miles to South Jackson Avenue after Kindred Hospital, 1004 Arch St., closes at the end of the summer. LifeCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh recently announced its upcoming acquisition of Kindred Hospital Pittsburgh Northside location. The purchase, announced on May 30 in a LifeCare Hospitals release, will close at the end of the summer. The closing date By Alyse Horn Steven Bermudez of Brighton Heights works on a mural that covers is yet to be determined accordthe side of the Northside Coalition for Fair Housing, 1821 Brighton ing to Kim Sperring, CEO of LifRd. The mural is themed “Breaking the Cycle,” and is in part with eCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh. The Kindred Northside lothe MLK Community Mural Project. cation is no longer accepting new patients, but LifeCare’s other locations on South Jackson Avenue—located five miles from Kindred— Penn Avenue, Natrona Heights and McGinley Road in Monroeville are open to city residents seeking museum in the RJ Casey Induslong-term acute hospital care. By Cristina Holtzer trial Park on Columbus Avenue, Long-term acute care usuForget the movie sets Down- is under consideration by some ally includes hospital stays betown—a reality show about television studios as the site for a tween 25 and 30 days for paoil stains, a family business reality show similar to American tients with multiple diagnoses, and bicycle enthusiasts could Pickers on the History Channel. chronic illness or “significant Craig Marrow, 57, the found- loss of independence,” according be coming to the Northside. to Kindred Hospital’s website. Bicycle Heaven, a bicycle reSee Heaven, page 19 LifeCare, like Kindred Hospair shop, retail store and history
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pitals, will offer nursing care to “individuals with tracheotomies, patients with non-healing wounds and those with multiple diagnoses.” “As the leading provider of post-acute care services in the Pittsburgh area, acquiring the [Northside] operation and serving that area of the community provided a natural opportunity for us to serve an even greater patient base,” Sperring said in an email. Sperring said LifeCare “does not plan to operate a hospital at the [Allegheny Commons] location” and that plans for the building after the deal closes still need to be determined. LifeCare, Sperring said, has no part in what happens to Kindred employees at the Northside location after the acquisition, but did say that she hopes LifeCare can “grow” their services and “that growth will likely require an increase in our workforce at some point.” “Kindred is in the process of closing the hospital, and it is our understanding they have provided WARN act letters to all employees of the [Northside] hospital,” Sperring said. The closure of the Kindred See Kindred, page 10
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