Scanlon Leads Effort to Turn Glen Mills School into Federal Medical Station

GLEN MILLS, PA — Today, Representative Mary Gay Scanlon led a bicameral, bipartisan letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to request approval to convert Glen Mills School into a Federal Emergency Station to meet Southeastern Pennsylvania’s unprecedented medical needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This letter was co-signed by Representatives Dwight Evans, Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan and Brian Fitzpatrick, alongside Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey. This effort has received support from Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties.

“COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on southeastern Pennsylvania, and we must do everything in our power to protect our medical facilities from the surge of patients that we are likely to see in the next few weeks ,” Rep. Scanlon said. “I am proud to lead this bipartisan, bicameral effort to ensure that our region has the medical capacity to provide high quality care to all patients. My colleagues and I have called on FEMA to approve the use of Glen Mills School as a Federal Medical Station so that our state can appropriately respond to this ongoing pandemic.”

A Federal Medical Station can serve:

• Patients who cannot be discharged to a long-term care facility
• Patients in non-critical need from critical care hospitals
• Patients who are in hospitals and stable, but too ill to be discharged
• As a standing medical station in case a Long-Term Care Facility is evacuated

A copy of this letter is available below.

Dear Administrator Gaynor:

As members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate representing southeastern Pennsylvania, we write in support of the application supported by Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties. to establish Glen Mills School in Delaware County as a Federal Medical Station (FMS). This FMS is critical to our region’s ability to address urgent and expanding medical needs in our districts.

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the country and is disproportionately impacting our counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. Given the urgency of this matter, we are pleased to report that the request for the FMS at Glen Mills School represents a collaborative effort within the region, reflects the counsel of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and has the support of our County Departments of Emergency Services and the regional Health Care Coalition. Additionally, it is our understanding that the site was deemed acceptable by the Army Corp of Engineers.

We understand that the primary functions of the FMS would include:

· Serving patients who cannot be discharged to a long-term care facility.

· Serving patients in non-critical need from critical care hospitals.

· Serving patients who are in hospitals and stable, but too ill to be discharged.

· Serving as a standing medical station in case a Long-Term Care Facility is evacuated.

Based on the observed progression of COVID-19, we expect that hospitals in our region will require significant assistance from a Federal Medical Station in order to provide high quality care to our constituents. We ask that you move quickly to approve the application for a Federal Medical Station at Glen Mills School. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.