Some jobs eliminated, other positions created, at Tower Health’s Chestnut Hill and Pottstown Hospitals

Tower Health, the Berks county-based health system, has announced that it is restructuring its nursing units at Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia, and Pottstown Hospital in Pottstown, resulting in the elimination of 32 jobs at Chestnut Hill, and 33 at Pottstown.

At Chestnut Hill Hospital, this change will impact 23 unit clerks, five patient greeters, and five patient sitters, all of whom are union members. At Pottstown Hospital, this change will impact 22 union-member unit secretaries and 10 non-union patient sitters. Pottstown Hospital does not have patient greeters.

While the changes will result in the loss of a job for some employees, new positions will also open, the hospital said.

Chestnut Hill Hospital is opening 18 new positions in the nursing units, while Pottstown Hospital is creating 24 positions, 13 of which are patient care assistant positions. The PCA positions at Pottstown represent new union positions at the Hospital. The addition of PCA positions was based upon nursing staff feedback on ways to improve patient care.

According to a statement from Tower Health, “these changes aim to improve care delivery and coordination on nursing units and create a consistent model for care across the Tower Health hospitals.”

The change also is designed to support the recent installation of the Epic electronic health record across Tower Health, which enables nursing and other clinical staff to share information in order to improve clinical quality.

Tower Health states that some impacted employees have already accepted new positions within Tower Health, and that those who have not will be provided severance.