POTTSTOWN PA – Only 10 days after Pottstown Hospital owner Tower Health said it would close several departments and facilities there, and layoff 131 workers, an orderly crowd of about 80 people gathered Monday morning (Nov. 17, 2025) on the hospital grounds. But they made their outrage, and sense of betrayal, known in speeches and comments.
They also seemed to agree, in several calls for action, to unify and fight back against what some claim may be the hospital’s future closure.
Tower Health on Nov. 7 (Sunday) announced that it planned to end employment of about 350 of its 11,000-member workforce.
The highest percentage of workers in that group are employed at Pottstown Hospital. They include employees of soon-to-come closures: its intensive care unit, medical-surgical step-down unit, and endoscopy center. Services at its cancer outpatient center will be reduced, too, but radiation oncology care will continue.
Those changes are anticipated to take effect in mid-January. The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), the union representing Pottstown Nurses United and its membership of about 300 nurses, called Monday’s “press conference” to make the public aware of what’s ahead, and at stake.
‘Peeling away’ at services
As one of several speakers, Pottstown area state Rep. Joe Ciresi didn’t mince words. “This is the first time we’re standing here to think that this institution is on the verge of what might become closure,” he said. “Let’s really talk what it is.”
Tower Health, which operates as a non-profit, earlier closed the maternity ward at Pottstown. It also scaled back staff in other departments, such as maintenance, laundry, and pharmacy, employees say. Ciresi compared its tactics to “peeling away a little bit each time,” until little remains
“We’ve all seen this routine before … Profit over people. It’s more important to make the mighty dollar than it is to take care of someone,” Ciresi suggested.
“This to me is one of the biggest disasters that we can see for our community. We are one of the quickest growing areas in the western part of Montgomery County … We see there’s housing developments and apartment complexes, and it’s wonderful, going up everywhere. Yet, our hospital is not growing.”
“When is enough, enough?,” Ciresi later asked. “This has become the cancer of healthcare, and we need to stop it.”
‘They Gave Us This Spiel’
NAACP Pottstown Chapter President Johnny Corson agreed with Ciresi’s assessment of a potential closure.
He recalled a meeting years ago with Tower Health officials, shortly after it purchased Pottstown Hospital, at which “they gave us this spiel about how much they cared about Pottstown.” They said they would bring “quality healthcare here. All Tower did was sit there, and they lied to us,” Corson alleged. Now, he noted, “the next step is closing.”
Should that happen, Corson explained, “we know that’s going to impact this community. You lose a lot of goods and services … High-paid health care workers leave.” The result, he said “is going to drive down the economy.”
Then, as physicians and nurses depart for jobs elsewhere, he added, the hospital will lack the staff for other necessary treatment. “So that’s going to give (Tower Health) more reason to shut down earlier.”
Part of a Statewide Problem
State Rep. Paul Friel, who represents Pottstown’s 19465 zip code residents of Chester County, observed the situation at Pottstown Hospital is similar to others elsewhere in Pennsylvania. “The closures announced at Tower Health are not just a local issue. It’s a warning sign of … deeper structural flaws that exist in healthcare systems today,” Friel said.
Too often it “puts financial performance ahead of community and patient health outcomes,” he said. It “rewards volume rather than prevention and public health,” and “consistently leaves community hospitals and safety net facilities vulnerable.” The result? Friel points out that “institutions that serve the most vulnerable residents are the least financially stable.”
In Pennsylvania, he proposed change in healthcare management and delivery. Friel called for “stronger oversight of hospital ownership models,” more transparency in their financial decisions, and “policies that protect essential services from being cut” before understanding their impact on a community.
Mounting Frustration, and Tears
Several hospital nurses, some of whom received layoff notices, openly expressed anxiety and fears for the patients they serve, and themselves.
Sixth floor nurse Maria Gutierrez acknowledged support she received from fellow hospital employees years ago. She was battling breast cancer during 2020, and received treatment at Phoenixville Hospital while continuing to work in Pottstown.
“Today my heart is aching for Pottstown cancer center patients,” she said. “They’re being forced to find new doctors, nurses, and caretakers after they’ve already built so much trust with their current teams.”
Those being laid off, Gutierrez reported, “have saved and cared for the people of Pottstown and, on a more personal note, they cared for me.” Through tears and pauses, she emphasized, “that’s the Pottstown Hospital way. We care for each other, and the members of this community that we’re all a part of.”
Nurse Erin Kedrowitsch has worked at the hospital for more than a decade in several roles. In each, she said, she cared for patients “as if they were members of my family … It’s how I believe nursing is meant to be practiced.” Other colleagues hold the same belief, she added.
“Today I stand here devastated for the patients of Pottstown Hospital and our entire community … I have very real concerns about what will happen to our patients.” As an advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves, Kedrowitsch said, she is asking “for a plan that ensures their lives and their health will not be put at risk.”
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Tech Christine Daub, also notified of a pending layoff, characterized her work area as “a sacred space” for saving patients’ lives and providing “holistic healing” to their family members. “I’m grieving now,” she admitted, both for her “beloved job” and for “the loss of essential patient care.” The community, she warned, “will suffer from a massive void” when the ICU doors close.
How Area Residents Can Help
Members of the public can act now in several ways to express their views on the topic, speakers said, or request specific results.
- Sign a petition. “Add your name” to an online petition that demands a stop to the cuts, halts layoffs, and ends plans to close departments and programs. It is available at the website “ShameOnTowerHealth.com,” and operated by PASNAP.
- Contact Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office to endorse the proposed “Health System Protection Act,” Corson suggests. Known as House Bill 1460 of 2025, if passed it reportedly would “rein in exploitative private equity practices” in dealing with healthcare assets, and “give Pennsylvania’s attorney general authority to block bad deals” that threaten healthcare access. Shapiro’s main office phone is 717-787-2500. Mail can be addressed to “Governor’s Office, 501 N. 3rd St., 508 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg PA 17120; or use his online contact form.
- As Friel and Ciresi both suggest, contact state legislators – your state representatives and senators – about your concerns for the hospital’s future, and that of others. If you don’t know who they are, or how to reach them, use the state’s “Find My Legislator” online tool.
Read an earlier story about preparations for this gathering, published Nov. 14 by Travels With The Post, here.
Photos by Travels With The Post
Our local news reporting includes Healthy Living articles about healthcare, wellness, medical providers, and medical services within, or that affect residents of, Montgomery, Berks, and Chester PA counties. Find more health-related articles here. Also, see and follow the Pottstown Health page on Facebook.
Coventry Singers, Keystone Villa Present Holiday Concerts