Einstein
hospital plan opposed by pro-life group
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
EAST NORRITON — A new state-of-the-art hospital that would serve
the communities of central Montgomery County and “become a model
for compassionate, advanced patient care” seems like it would be
a welcome project.
But that is not the case for residents in and out of East Norriton, where
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN) and Montgomery Hospital Medical
Center (MHMC) are proposing to build a $300 million, 200-bed hospital.
The most important concern for some members of the East Norriton Citizens
Group, and for members of the ProLife Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania
is the practice of abortion. The Einstein network , according to the ProLife
Union, performs the greatest number of first- and second-trimester abortions
of any hospital in the five counties of southeastern Pennsylvania. Their
fear is that the new hospital will do the same, said Kathleen Sobocinski,
a former East Norriton township committee woman of 14 years, and the chairwoman
of the ProLife Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
“I tried to get information about the abortion policy for the new
hospital, but Richard Montalbano, the project executive for the initiative,
said he couldn’t speak to that, but he could talk about the other
services the center would provide in regards to neurosurgery and advanced
cardiac and cancer care services. That is when we went into action,”
Sobocinski said.
As the Cluster 72 Respect Life representative — which covers nine
parishes in central Montgomery County, including St. Titus Parish in East
Norriton — Sobocinski and the ProLife Union joined with the East
Norriton Citizens Group to oppose the hospital initiative.
Sobocinski has gathered nearly 1,000 signed petitions from residents —
and those outside the township the hospital would serve — opposing
the hospital construction because of Einstein’s abortion practices.
East Norriton Township manager Helmuth Baerwald said he does not know
about Einstein’s abortion policy, or whether the new facility would
perform abortions, but he noted, “as far as the legal application
that the applicant has made, this is not one of the criteria for either
a zoning or land permit.”
Other concerns residents have expressed about the hospital’s construction,
including increased traffic, noise pollution from ambulances and helicopters,
environmental impact on sewer run-off and contamination of drinking water
from wells, should be addressed during the land application process, Baerwald
added.
Sobocinski knows from her years as a committee woman that “abortion
is an issue that comes to a township, and the community has the right
to say whether they want it or don’t want it — regardless
of whether it is legal,” she said. “Pornography is legal for
adults, but that doesn’t mean we want it in our neighborhoods. Nor
do we want abortion,” she added.
Both Montgomery Hospital in Norristown, which would be largely replaced
by the new facility, and Mercy Suburban Hospital, which is only 1.9 miles
away from the proposed site, have been abortion free for over 20 years,
Sobocinski said, “but now East Norriton could become the abortion
capital of central Montgomery County.”
Msgr. Arthur E. Rodgers, the regional vicar for Montgomery County, who
is supporting the work of the ProLife Union, added that he is concerned
for the poor people of Norristown, who will be left without adequate health
care once Montgomery Hospital is replaced by the new facility in East
Norriton.
The new hospital is to be built “where they will have a wealthier
clientele and stronger financial base” instead of where the real
need is, Msgr. Rodgers said. He added that the East Norriton site is not
accessible by public transportation.
He is asking Catholics in the township to “write to the people on
the zoning board and express their opposition of this type of institution
in their neighborhood .... and to write to their politicians.”
Montalbano, the project executive for Einstein, was not available to speak
to the CS&T. But on Einstein’s Web site tracking the progress
of the project, Montalbano notes that some operations would likely continue
at Montgomery Hospital. He also noted that the approval of the zoning
will allow the hospital to plan for improved access to the new site, provide
an added buffer to neighboring residences and allot approximately 30 acres
of land for green space.
Although the Web site mentioned the main services it would provide, it
did not mention abortions or whether they would be performed at the new
hospital.
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith can be reached at npozo@adphila.org
or (215) 965-4614.
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