Is the pandemic responsible for the crisis at Bradford Regional Medical Center? Not in our opinion.

A story in Tuesday’s Era quoted Kaleida Health officials blaming the coronavirus for many of the current issues at the Bradford hospital when, in fact, most of the problems were caused by Kaleida’s poor planning.

Any well-run healthcare facility should plan for and be capable of handling patient surges, whether a community disaster or global pandemic. Bradford does have a refinery and we certainly hope our medical establishment has contingency plans should anything occur there.

As for the pandemic — Kaleida and Upper Allegheny Health Systems implemented a plan in May that drastically curtailed services at our hospital knowing full well the pandemic was under way.

We outlined our opinion at a meeting with Kaleida in December in Bradford and in a publicly shared written statement:

“While we acknowledge the virus had made a bad situation worse, we also pointed out emphatically that they, in fact, were the ones who had made the decision to close most of the hospital critical care during an ongoing pandemic. We noted that the weakest part of their overall plan was putting Bradford in a position to rely on a tertiary care hospital that was unable to handle the additional patients from Bradford — and, in fact, had not even been able to handle its own residents.

“What that meant was Bradford health care providers were put in a position to receive people who had needed all levels of care, but were unable to provide anything but the most basic care.

“We would also like to understand how a highly paid executive team was allowed to dismantle a workforce of healthcare providers at every level despite voiced concerns about an ability to provide safe and adequate care during the pandemic or otherwise.”

Kaleida had, in fact, cut all Hospital beds in Bradford but was required to have at least 10 by the state of Pennsylvania. Our Emergency Department remained open but the entire Intensive Care Unit was stripped out and moved to Olean. In addition, all same-day surgery was relocated to Olean hospital.

Kaleida has agreed to open 10 fully staffed additional beds as a result of the pandemic but reports have indicated only five have been added thus far — more than a month out.

When our group met with Kaleida officials in December, we had been pleased that they seemed to honestly accept mistakes had been made as they implemented what they called a “transformational” plan.

But Don Boyd, president and chief operating officer of Kaleida, in Tuesday’s Era, talked about that plan as a way to work against some of the “headwinds” cited by those who testified about the difficulties facing rural hospitals. Cited were issues such as inadequate reimbursement for services, severe nursing shortages, access to needed specialities and population decline.

He said they would be adding specialists “who are going to live in and have their offices right in Bradford.” They are recruiting, he said, physicians in oncology, pulmonology, orthopedics and neurosurgery. “The access to care is going to improve in Bradford,” he said.

Boyd said the hearing confirmed for him that Kaleida is on the right track with its transformational plan and Centers of Excellence. “Step back and consider what the plan is and what the access will be in the community for Bradford and Olean together. There’s a significant improvement being made,” Boyd told The Era.

While we, of course, welcome the addition of specialist physicians in Bradford but we have other demands equally if not more important.

We have made three distinct demands of Kaleida and Upper Allegheny. We want the extra 10 beds and staffing to be made permanent. Officials have said the extra beds are “temporary” and made no commitment to make them permanent.

We want a return of our ICU. Kaleida has given no indication they are considering such a move.

The third demand is a return of same-day surgery. Again, Kaleida made no commitment to the idea although it was pointed out a different healthcare provider could locate to Bradford and easily open its own surgical center, drawing Bradford area patients away from Olean.

The Era article said Kaleida had “very carefully” thought out insurance and transportation issues, concerns raised at the hearing. While acknowledging that there has been an occasional problem with patients billed for co-pays on two ambulance trips — first to Bradford and second to Olean — they have agreed to cover that “incidental expense to the patient.”

The story did not indicate what they will do about patients taken by ambulance to distant hospital, but with no way to get home again.

Our conclusion? Kaleida and Upper Allegheny obviously believe they have made no errors and, in fact, are on the right track in providing health care to Bradford area residents. We believe their plan, to date, has been disastrous for McKean County residents. We will not accept a plan that does not return some critical services to Bradford. We told Kaleida officials explicitly that if they cannot or will not provide these services we would like to be free to pursue other options.

Our concern is that their continued support of their original plan means they are not inclined to make any changes whatsoever. Time will tell.

(Marty Wilder is an organizer of Save Our Hospital.)