Allied marks 5 years since purchase of Wilkes-Barre healthcare facilities

REPOSTED FROM THE CITIZENS VOICE BY NORA BETTS

Allied Health Services acquired three Wilkes-Barre healthcare facilities from the Diocese of Scranton in October 2019.

Five years later, Allied is maintaining its pledge to meet the spiritual needs of its patients while providing healthcare for seniors, retaining staff members and offering job opportunities for community members.

Vice President of Strategic Partnership Development Jim Brogna said Allied is committed to reinvesting money into its patients and workers rather than making a profit.

“(As a) reputable nonprofit that’s been around for more than 65 years, you know that we’re going to continue to reinvest in our people, our places, our technology, and access to care,” Brogna said. “(The Diocese) could have sold to another provider that would have paid them more money, but they were not certain, other than choosing Allied, that the provider would have the reputation… and also the pledge to reinvest in the people, in the facilities, and in the community. It’s all about the profit for (other providers), and for us, it’s all about our people, our residents, and the community.”

The three facilities formerly owned by the Diocese have changed names and undergone millions of dollars in renovations.

Allied Services Center City Skilled Nursing at 80 E. Northampton St., formerly St. Luke’s Villa, is a center for skilled and long-term nursing as well as senior living. Allied Services Meade Street Skilled Nursing and Meade Street Residence at 200 Meade St., formerly Little Flower Manor and St. Therese Residence, contain an eight-bed hospice facility, skilled nursing center, and affordable, private-pay senior living center.

Brogna said Allied is not under formal oversight from the Diocese but retained the spiritual aspect of the former Diocesan facilities.

“Once that acquisition took place in 2019, it was basically their blessing of us as the next owner and operator of these facilities and services,” Brogna said.

He said Mass is observed daily at the facilities under the supervision of an on-site priest, Father Richard G. Ghezzi.

Eric Deabill, the Secretary of Communication for The Diocese of Scranton, commended Allied’s continuation of spiritual care at the facilities.

“As we mark the five-year anniversary of the sale, the Diocese remains grateful that Allied Services followed through on its promise to continue meeting the spiritual needs of residents, offering the opportunity to participate in Mass regularly, which was very important to us from the outset of the sale process,” said Deabill.

Brogna said the affordability of Allied’s services has not changed, even due to extensive renovations including a $10 million project at Allied Services Center City Skilled Nursing in 2023.

“Medicare gives you a specific dollar amount for a day of stay, regardless of if your facility is falling apart or it’s beautiful and has technology like ours,” Brogna said. “We just choose to reinvest.”

The goal of acquiring the Wilkes-Barre facilities was to create a “continuum of care” from senior living to hospice care. Brogna said Allied provides a variety of services so seniors can remain in Wilkes-Barre to get what they need.

“You know you’re going to have high-quality services right in the community where they are deeply needed,” said Brogna. “(And) you don’t have to go out of town for that high quality.”

Brogna said the nonprofit invests in specialized certifications and extra technologies beyond the basics of care.

“A clinician who wants to have an advanced wound certification, we’re going to reinvest in them,” he said. “A therapist who wants to have a specialized certification either in treating Parkinson’s or some other diagnoses like dementia, we’re going to invest in them.”

Allied Services also provides free CNA training for community members looking to enter the healthcare field. Brogna said trainees are taught by skilled nurses on-site at the Wilkes-Barre locations, receive an hourly wage during the course of their training, and are guaranteed a position at Allied if they pass the final assessment.

“Someone from downtown Wilkes-Barre could walk to work (and0 sign up for a CNA training class,” Brogna said. “We pay them while they are being trained, we pay for their training, and then once they pass the test they have a guaranteed position at approximately $20 an hour. There’s real, great opportunity that some people don’t even realize, right on those campuses that didn’t exist prior to Allied acquiring St. Therese, Little Flower Manor, and St. Luke’s Villa.”

Allied retained 185 Diocesan staff members when the facilities changed ownership and now employs more 350 staffers at the three Northampton and Meade Street locations.

“Our goal is always to reinvest,” Brogna said. “When we have any profit over the reimbursement, that money goes back into the facilities and the people and the community.”