Catholic Health to close emergency department at Sisters of Charity Hospital, St. Joseph Campus

COVID-19 cases throughout Erie County have increased significantly over the last week. To accommodate a rapidly growing COVID-19 patient census and ensure patient safety, quality care, and adequate staffing, Catholic Health will be closing the Emergency Department at Sisters of Charity Hospital, St. Joseph Campus at 2605 Harlem Road in Cheektowaga on Thursday, November 19 at 7 a.m. until further notice. Local EMS providers have been notified of this change. 

Emergency services at Sisters Hospital’s Main St. Campus at 2157 Main Street in Buffalo are not affected by this closure. Individuals with medical emergencies should call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest open emergency department.  

All Catholic Health hospitals are currently caring for COVID patients using a hybrid model that will allow each facility to safely maintain the health of the community while providing the highest quality care to COVID-19 patients.

“We gained tremendous knowledge from our COVID experience at St. Joseph Campus and are using that knowledge to create a hybrid model to care for COVID patients throughout our system,” said Marty Boryszak, senior vice president of Acute Care Service for Catholic Health. “Although St. Joseph Campus will continue to care for more than half of the COVID patients in Catholic Health, we are increasing bed capacity at all our hospitals to manage this growing surge.”

Outpatient and elective procedures will continue at St. Joseph Campus and throughout Catholic Health at this time, however, the system is closely monitoring bed capacity and surge across the region to respond to changes as necessary.  

“The safety of our associates and patients is our top priority,” Boryszak added. “We will continue to monitor and manage this crisis to ensure our hospitals are staffed and equipped to provide the highest quality care, but we ask all Western New Yorkers to also step up and help protect our community by wearing masks, washing their hands, practicing social distancing and limiting gatherings.”