Many lament closing of Aliquippa, PA, clinic

A state-imposed deadline is looming to save the ailing Commonwealth Medical Center in Aliquippa, PA. The state Department of Health said it will move to permanently close the debt-ridden, 96-bed facility, formerly known as Aliquippa Community Hospital, unless the hospital can prove that it is capable of functioning for at least six months to a year. The community was in a dogged bid to save the hospital founded 51 years ago as a nonprofit institution and sold last year after losing $12 million since a 2004 bankruptcy restructuring. The buyer, Commonwealth Medical Center, sought to operate it as a for-profit facility.