PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The owner of Pottstown Hospital plans to lay off more than 130 staff members at the facility come January, and close critical care units, including the ICU and Cancer Center.
"It's time to put profit aside and think about the people of our Pottstown community," said Pennsylvania State Rep. Joe Ciresi at a protest Monday outside the hospital.
Several nurses and health care professionals were there, many holding signs that read, "Save Jobs/Save Lives," and "Patients Needs over Corporate Greed.” They called for the hospital’s owner, Tower Health, to reconsider the plan.
Maria Gutiérrez has been a nurse at Pottstown Hospital for six years and fought triple-negative breast cancer while working there. She says her heart aches for the caring staff being laid off, as well as the patients.
"And while I was caring for my patients with my bald cap-covered head, my bosses and co-workers were not only caring for their patients but for me as well,” Gutiérrez said.
Ciresi said this action by Tower is about corporate greed among health care companies in the country.
"I stand with my colleagues and all of our colleagues in Harrisburg to say we need to be united and make sure this doesn't happen. We saw it happen all over Chester County, and we did everything we could to try and stop it, and here we are now in Montgomery County. This has become the cancer of health care, and we need to stop it."
These changes are planned to take effect on Jan. 16, 2026.
In a statement, Tower Health said that inpatient surgeries will continue at Pottstown Hospital, and the measures taken are to reduce costs and ensure the hospital can be financially stable to meet the needs of the community for decades to come.
Tower Health also operates Reading Hospital in West Reading, Phoenixville Hospital in Chester County, and co-owns Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.