State Cuts Off Lower Bucks Hospital’s Vaccine Supply, Fight Brews

Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol Township has been a key vaccination site in the county. It has administered thousands of doses to Phase 1A-qualified locals, including many who would be unable to secure transportation to other vaccination clinics.

However, the community hospital’s management learned last Thursday that the Pennsylvania Department of Health will be cutting off their supply of vaccines after the scheduled second doses are fulfilled. All existing appointments will be completed.

The decision has reverberated in the community and caused the hospital and a bipartisan group of local elected officials to fight back.

State officials told LevittownNow.com the shift is “temporary” and designed to increase the flow of vaccine doses to a smaller number of providers.

“Essentially, while the supply of vaccine remains extremely limited, instead of giving very few doses to a lot of different providers each week we will be giving larger quantities of vaccine to fewer providers,” said Maggi Barton, deputy press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Local officials said the hospital has received no date on when the vaccine supply may return.

The cut in supply to Lower Bucks Hospital comes as the state prepares to open two controversial mass vaccination sites to serve the four-county Philadelphia region. The closest site to the area is slated, according to NorthPenn Now, to be at the Montgomery Mall, which a more than a four-hour round trip on public transit and 80 minute round trip in a car.

Barton said state health officials will be working more with local aging services to reach people who are homebound or have trouble making it to a vaccination location. In addition, there are other vaccination clinics in the county.

Lower Bucks Hospital management is hoping the decision by the state will be reversed.

“Lower Bucks Hospital has assumed a major role in the vaccine rollout that began nearly two months ago, and we have been administering 400 vaccines a day in partnership with the County,” said Michelle Aliprantis, the hospital’s director of business development and marketing.

Aliprantis explained the hospital offers easy access to many in the local elderly population and can serve hundreds of people per day. The hospital also has an emergency room that can treat anyone who may have an adverse reaction or other medical emergency.

“Our goal is to continue with accommodating people who meet the 1A criteria, but unfortunately this is out of our hands,” she said.

Officials worry that closing the vaccine site would hurt the chances of vulnerable populations getting inoculated.

The offices of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican; State Rep. Tina Davis, a Democrat from Bristol Township; and State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, a Republican from Bensalem, have been advocating for the Lower Bucks Hospital clinic to remain open with doses provided by the state.

Hospital leadership, the lawmakers and their staffs, and Bristol Borough Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe toured the vaccination clinic and met Thursday to discuss the matter. The hospital and lawmakers were preparing data on the population the vaccination clinic serves to present to state health officials in an effort to keep it operating.

“I am very disappointed and upset they are closing Lower Bucks Hospital’s site,” Davis said. “This will impact the neediest and most vulnerable people. Out of all places, these are the people that need it the most.”

Davis said she has been impressed by how quickly and efficiently people are vaccinated at the hospital.

Ryan Skoczylas, the chief of staff for Tomlinson, said keeping the Lower Bucks Hospital site open makes sense.

“Over the past few days, we have had several productive conversations with the Department of Health. We have shared some of the information, statistics, and personal stories regarding the community that Lower Bucks Hospital serves, and we are hopeful that the department will take that into consideration,” Skoczylas said. “The senator is incredibly thankful for all of the members of Lower Bucks Hospital that have worked tirelessly to vaccinate over 6,300 individuals so far.”

Fitzpatrick’s office did not respond to two requests for comment.

Davis and Tomlinson’s office said the lawmakers would keep advocating for the vaccination site to stay open.

Grand View Hospital in Upper Bucks County is also seeing their vaccine supply from the state end.

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