Court orders Corbett to halt health center closings

HARRISBURG - In the latest in a string of litigation defeats for Gov. Corbett, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the administration to reverse course on plans to close one-third of the state's county-based health centers.

In its ruling late Thursday, the court sided with union-backed nurses and ordered the Corbett administration to halt what it called the "unlawful closing" of centers primarily in rural areas as part of a reorganization and cost-saving effort.

Officials with SEIU Healthcare PA said it was a victory for public health services in a state that trails many others in the number of rural health professionals and funding levels.

Health center nurses perform frontline public health tasks, including monitoring infectious diseases, the union said.

"At a time when the need for public health nurses couldn't be greater, we fully expect the Corbett administration to undo the damage they did and re-open closed health centers, reinstate nurse positions and restore the level of services required by law," said Kevin Hefty, SEIU Healthcare PA state sector vice president.

Melanie Zeigler, a community health nurse in northeastern Pennsylvania who had to relocate as a result of the administration's decision, said she was "thrilled" with the decision and added it "will put us back in our communities where we belong."

A health department spokeswoman said it was not clear how the administration would respond.

"We are still reviewing the ruling in full to determine the implications to the plan moving forward," said health department spokeswoman Aimee Tysarczyk.

The case has been bouncing through the courts since 2013 when SEIU, along with several Democratic lawmakers, filed suit shortly after the Department of Health announced its intention to close health centers and lay off more than two dozen nurses.

Justice Max Baer, writing for the majority, said the legislature had never changed a 1996 mandate that required the state to maintain the same level of health centers (60) it had in 1995.

"While the executive branch contends that its proposed modernization plan is more cost-efficient and better serves the citizens of the commonwealth, it is not for this court to opine on that policy determination," Baer wrote.

In the lone dissent, Justice Michael Eakin said the 1996 law did not preclude closing centers with demographic shifts or lease expirations, but rather required the same level of health services to be maintained.

The ruling came after a series of high-profile court defeats for Corbett on controversial issues such as voter ID, same-sex marriage, and the Marcellus drilling law provision that exempted drillers from local zoning ordinances.