Capacity and high patient volume alerts have been going out at Main Line Health as other hospitals take the load from Crozer Health shutdowns in Delaware County and Tower Health closures in Chester County.

Affected area hospitals are Riddle Hospital, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Lankenau Medical Center and Paoli Hospital, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

Main Line Health CEO Jack Lynch said they have seen a 16% increase in emergency department visits at Riddle in the past few months.

And with the maternity unit closed at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, the Main Line Health obstetrics and gynecology departments “are as busy as they ever have been,” he said.

Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, which runs Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, and Penn Medicine have similar issues.

Mercy Fitzgerald anticipated the closures and reductions and prepared in the last several months, according to a Trinity Health statement.

Emergency services staff are being trained to handle the unexpected, such as prenatal care and babies being delivered now at the Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital emergency department.

Hospitals in the Trinity and Main Line Health systems are also increasing bed capacity due to the closures.

Read more at WHYY about area hospitals filling to capacity due to shortages in hospital services.