One year later

SUSSEX BOROUGH — About a year ago, St. Clare's shortened the hours of its Sussex Borough emergency facility, closing the facility for 9 hours between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m.

One year later, the largest effect on the commmunity came in the form of emergency response times.

"There were numerous occasions that the local ambulances had to transport patients to Newton Medical Center and not to Saint Clare's, which is just seconds away from the Sussex Fire Dept," said Art House, an ambulance driver from the Sussex Fire Dept.

Saint Clare’s operates the Sussex satellite emergency department from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Inpatient services, including all licensed beds, at Sussex were discontinued on Sept. 21, 2012, when the Sussex campus transitioned to an outpatient diagnostic and treatment facility, now called Saint Clare’s Health Center at Sussex, according to Stephanie Galloway, spokesperson for Saint Clare's.

"Saint Clare's is vital to the community," says Julie McMichael, a personal healthcare aide and Andover resident. "Saint Clare's is the go-to hospital when Morristown isn't available.

McMichael said as a healthcare worker she would be heartbroken if she had to turn someone away that needed medical care.

Susan Sicoli, a food service worker in Sussex Borough, credits St. Clare's Hospital with saving her life after she had a stroke several years ago. She said as a community, she and other Sussex residents discuss St. Clare's future in the borough often and can't imagine being without it.

However, a recent experience wasn't as swift.

"I went there a few weeks ago, but it was before eight a.m. It was closed. I had to wait," Sicoli said.

The Sussex Borough community continues to have access via the advanced life support services provided by Saint Clare’s Mobile Intensive Care Unit program. The hospital is the state designated provider of MICU services in Sussex County, working in close collaboration with local ambulance squads. Saint Clare's emergency medical services continues to post two paramedic units in Sussex 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Galloway said.

The change in services at St. Clare’s Health Center at Sussex in 2014 has not had a significant impact on Newton Medical Center, which is well positioned to serve the needs of the Sussex County community at all times, Newton Medical Center spokesman Robert Seman said. Several of the physicians formerly operating from St. Clare’s in Sussex have been able to continue to see patients at Newton Medical Center.

St. Clare’s Health System continues to be in the regulatory review process with the state of New Jersey regarding transfer of ownership to Prime Healthcare Services, according to Galloway

House who has strong community ties to the area says he remembers as a union carpenter putting the large addition on Saint Clare's and can't imagine a town without it. "It's a shame, it is just a shame," he says of it all.