Approximately 50 people attended a “Protect Patient Care Town Hall” meeting on Thursday night. The event was sponsored by the SEIU Healthcare PA union. The purpose of the event was to bring notice to the community at large to the negative effects hospital mergers have had on communities. The meeting was particularly important as the merger between Washington Health System and UPMC continues to make progress. Community members were concerned about wait times for care. One resident complained of sometimes 7-8 hour waits already in Washington Hospital and was concerned that wait could get longer. Staff pay, staff reductions and increases to the cost of care were also mentioned as community concerns. Statistics presented showed that private recovery room prices have remained flat over the last 10 years at Washington Hospital and at UPMC room rates haver nearly doubled. Prices for the 10 most common ailments treated by Medicare show that UPMC prices are often more that twice what is charged at Washington Hospital. The Town Hall was a community call to action to contact the Pennsylvania Attorney General to have them put a stop to the merger. Information on how to sign a petition to the Attorney General and to leave comments can be found at ProtectPatientCare.org.