California-based Prime Healthcare Foundation, the East Norriton medical center’s owner and operator, is changing Suburban Community Hospital to focus more on emergency care, writes John George for Philadelphia Business Journal.

The hospital will now include a full-service emergency department open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

The department will be staffed with board-certified physicians and nurses.

The medical center will have at least 10 inpatient beds, with diagnostic, imaging and inpatient pharmacy services, said Michelle Aliprantis, regional director of marketing and communications for Prime Healthcare’s Pennsylvania hospitals.

Patients needing a higher level of care will be transferred to neighboring hospitals.

The hospital is suspending behavioral health services due to low demand and staffing challenges.

No details about staffing level changes or layoffs under the adjusted operations were released by Prime Healthcare.

The hospital is currently licensed for 127 beds. The changes mean the hospital will now function as a micro-hospital or neighborhood hospital with a small number of beds for patient observation and admissions requiring short stays.

The hospital has faced increased competition when Einstein Healthcare Network opened Einstein Medical Center Montgomery on Germantown Pike, about two miles from Community Hospital.

Read more about the history of the hospital and Prime Healthcare in the Philadelphia Business Journal.