In Bradford, a community reels after hospital closes

12:38 News Story For Port Allegany native Alyssa Osani, the string of healthcare closures in McKean County feels “like everything around us is dying a slow death.” Osani and her husband returned to the area after finishing college and both work as educators. But several months into her first pregnancy, she’s wondering if it’s time to leave her hometown. “Our five-year plan is to try to get out of here because we’re worried about healthcare. When it comes to welcoming our son, what if he needs something? We have family who, when they have an emergency … they have to try Buffalo,” said Osani. “Or, God forbid, Pittsburgh.” The first option is a two-hour drive while the latter is more than three hours. In the last 18 months, the labor and delivery unit in Coudersport closed, and Kaleida Health shuttered inpatient services at its Bradford hospital — leaving Olean General Hospital in Olean, New York as the nearest birthing option. “I’ve been not really thinking about it too much and hoping that everything will go according to plan,” said Osani, adding that she worries about having to give birth in the backseat of a car during the 30-minute drive. “It’s kind of scary to think … we do have that long drive and who knows what the weather will be like at that time of year.” Osani spoke in late September ahead of a prenatal appointment at Universal Primary Care (UPC), which has a clinic that sits across the street from the former site of the Bradford Regional Medical Center. The Bradford hospital ended its emergency services on May 17, with a release noting that primary and specialty care services would remain available alongside the 95-bed long-term living facility, The Pavilion. “While this transition marks the end of emergency and inpatient services, BRMC will continue to play an important role in supporting the healthcare needs of the region,” unnamed hospital leaders said in a statement. “Healthcare — especially rural healthcare — continues to face many challenges. Over the 139-year history of the hospital, healthcare delivery has changed with the most recent shifting significantly toward outpatient services. We remain committed to building a sustainable model that continues meeting as many of the community’s healthcare needs as possible.” The same week Osani spoke to the Capital-Star, Kaleida announced it would be closing The Pavilion, another loss for local services. “These facilities keep closing, and where do we go for help?” Osani asked. Pressure on those left Mike Austin, UPC’s chief operating officer, shared that demand has increased as Kaleida continues to end services. A handful of times, people have wandered into the clinic with high-level crises looking for help. In those situations, UPC staff will try to triage and call an ambulance, but often emergency services are tied up transporting patients to far-flung hospitals, especially if their insurance doesn’t permit them to seek treatment in Olean. “It’s really a domino effect of a lot of bad things that are putting more strain on an overstrained healthcare system,” Austin said. It makes it more difficult to recruit providers to the area, added Bretty Lawton, UPC’s CEO, especially in a specialty like obstetrics, where there should be hospital-level backup. The Center for Rural PA projects that rural counties will lose 5.8% of their population over the next 30 years, even as the demand for services — especially healthcare for older adults — increases. “Healthcare support is leaving faster than the population is declining, and I feel like one thing probably contributes to the other,” Lawton said. “It’s harder for people to stick around when they see a decline.” But Austin, who grew up in the area, said there’s still a lot of community left that needs the support, noting that there’s a University of Pittsburgh branch, as well as Zippo Manufacturing Company’s flagship location and other industry. “The skeleton is there to have a thriving community … I think we could stop the population decline if the investment in healthcare was at the forefront. Because that’s kind of the heart that’s going to pump life throughout,” Austin said. “The (healthcare services) that are remaining, we’re picking up the bill.” UPC is attempting to turn the tide, fundraising for a new space that’ll triple the size of its primary care services and house a dental residency program with the University of Pittsburgh. That’s on top of a separate UPC dental clinic that opened in January and still has a waitlist of more than 1,000 people — including some people from New York. As a federally qualified health center, UPC regularly conducts community needs assessments, identifying dental care as a gap. But unlike most of Pennsylvania’s other federally qualified health centers, a large share of their patients have private insurance, reflecting the lack of alternatives. In 2025, roughly a quarter of all Pennsylvanians visiting federally qualified health centers had private coverage, compared to 42.5% at UPC, which includes four New York clinics. “We’re the only game in town,” said Lawton. Anil Pradhan has been an area pediatrician since 1981, retiring briefly in 2020. After three years, he came back to work part time at UPC’s Bradford clinic. “I really missed the interactions with the kids,” Pradhan said. “Just about every child I see, the parents used to be my patients.” He’s one of just two pediatricians practicing locally now, he said. “Lately, of course, we have no hospital. No (emergency room). You may not get an ambulance if you need it because they’re busy,” he added. A slim ray of hope To many locals, Kaleida Health’s decision to close the Bradford hospital’s inpatient services is seen as a tactic to divert services to the Olean location, which it also owns. Kaleida didn’t respond to a request for comment. It’s a suspicion that the area’s local officials have asked the attorney general’s office to investigate after Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) pulled out of a purchase deal for the former hospital and adjoining long-term facility. According to reporting from The Buffalo News, Kaleida tried to insert a noncompete agreement that would limit LECOM’s ability to offer services at the facility. Rep. Martin Causer (R-McKean) said the health system “failed to negotiate in good faith,” adding noncompetitive language that would “effectively ensure that BRMC would never again operate as a hospital.” Causer, Sen. Cris Dush (R-Jefferson), who has also called for an investigation, and the attorney general’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. But according to the lawmakers, the state agency has “pledged to explore all aspects … (of) the closure and failed sale,” including potential antitrust violations . “The situation facing patients throughout the entire Bradford region is unacceptable, particularly when you consider Kaledia’s significant reductions in lifesaving healthcare services – most notably the closing of Bradford Regional’s emergency room,” said Dush. Both lawmakers are part of a Healthcare Access Team attempting to restore care. For Austin, with UPC, the federally qualified health center must continue to think outside of the box to be sustainable, because the alternative is unacceptable. “Just about everyone, we live in these communities that we’re serving. The patients are our family members; they’re our friends; they’re our neighbors,” Austin said. “It’s pretty easy to get up every day and have that mindset and know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and who it’s for.” This story was reported as part of the National Press Club Journalism Institute Public Health Reporting Fellowship, funded by the Common Health Coalition.