Nearly four months after Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport, N.Y., closed its doors, another hospital is celebrating opening day in the same city.
Catholic Health Lockport Memorial Hospital opened to the public Oct. 10, rounding out a plan years in the making for the Buffalo, N.Y.-based system. Catholic Health signed an operating agreement with Eastern Niagara Hospital after the facility filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2019, and had been planning to close the old hospital as it launched the new Lockport Memorial.
Eastern Niagara Hospital officially shuttered June 17, temporarily leaving Lockport residents without access to a community hospital. This added pressure on first responders and EMT services, who had to drive patients at least 20 minutes from Lockport to the nearest hospital.
"Without having to drive 20 to 30 minutes, like I said, is a big blessing," Lisa Swanson-Gellerson, a Lockton resident, told ABC-affiliate WKBW. "It's a huge sigh of relief for the community. We needed this."