UPMC closing Emlenton site
The UPMC family practice is moving out of its space on Main Street in Emlenton at the end of the month, removing the only health care agency in the borough.
Barbara Warden, president of the Emlenton Area Medical Corporation, said the practice has been in the building for at least 40 years, and the loss of the agency will make it difficult for people in the borough and surrounding areas to get medical attention.
Additionally, a fitness center that shares a building with the practice may not survive without UPMC covering its part of the building’s rent.
“There is a building that houses seniors; many of them went to the medical center and are going to have to find a new provider, No. 1, and find transportation to get to that provider,” Warden said.
“It might be a small practice, but it’s a necessary practice for people who live in a small town. The end result shouldn’t be the bottom line; it should be health care for the residents of any area.”
Cyndey Patton, director of public relations for UPMC, confirmed the Emlenton Area Family Practice-UPMC is not renewing its lease for the Emlenton facility once it expires at the end of the year.
The board members of the Emlenton Area Medical Corporation manage the property, and Warden said they are responsible for ensuring there is a health care agency in the building.
Lori Russell, treasurer of the corporation, contended that the loss of the family practice would be a loss to communities including Foxburg, Parker and Bruin, as well as the people in Emlenton who will have to travel farther to get primary care.
“We have a couple men in wheelchairs we can easily wheel over, but they are stuck now because they don’t have transportation,” Russell said. “It’s a blow.”
Russell also said the fitness center’s future is in question because of the loss of the UPMC practice. She said the fitness center has rates that are affordable to area residents and families, which allows more people to have memberships at the center.
“That rent from the doctor’s office subsidizes the fitness center,” Russell said. “I'm very concerned about the fitness center, because we have some people who come in regularly. Without the rent from above, we can’t afford the fitness center.”
Warden said UPMC did not give a reason as to why it is not renewing its lease at the end of the year. She added that UPMC absorbed the practice which was already in the Emlenton building around 2000.
Warden said the corporation is reaching out to other medical groups in an attempt to get a practice into the space.
Although Emlenton is a small community, Warden said the borough gets visitation from tourists from the Allegheny River Trail, which is used by hikers and bikers. She said visitation has grown over the years, but the lack of a local health care practice would deter people from settling in Emlenton.
“If you want to attract people to a town, you need to have access to medical care, they don’t want to have to drive 20 or 30 miles to get a flu shot,” Warden said.
Patty Hackett has been a patient at the Emlenton practice for more than 18 years and said the closing of the UPMC practice will cause her and other elderly people in the borough to have to drive to Clarion, Franklin or other towns for health care access.
“The advantages of having a medical center in our small town of Emlenton far outweigh the disadvantages,” Hackett said. “It was devastating to me and other elderly local residents to hear that it is closing its doors at the end of the year.”
