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UPMC Susquehanna will soon have its own armed police force at Williamsport and Divine Providence hospitals, a hospital executive said.
Steven P. Johnson, president of UPMC in the Susquehanna Region, told City Council Thursday about the idea under development at the hospital.
He said he wanted to see it happen in the next 90 days and will work with the city administration and council on the project.
The hospital police officers would be
empowered to make arrests on the hospital campuses but not outside of that jurisdiction, he said.
Hospital executives worked out some details with police this week.
Jan 8, 2021
UPMC Susquehanna will soon have its own armed police force at Williamsport and Divine Providence hospitals, a hospital executive said.
Steven P. Johnson, president of UPMC in the Susquehanna Region, told City Council Thursday about the idea under development at the hospital.
He said he wanted to see it happen in the next 90 days and will work with the city administration and council on the project.
The hospital police officers would be empowered to make arrests on the hospital campuses but not outside of that jurisdiction, he said.
Hospital executives worked out some details with police this week.
“Yes, Williamsport Bureau of Police command staff met this week with hospital security command staff,” said Damon R. Hagan, city police chief.
Who, in their right mind, saw it coming?
After a relatively quiet, rather “normal” first quarter, we all learned of a “new normal” that would reshape just about every aspect of daily life for those lucky enough survive the global pandemic known as COVID-19.
But first a little happiness arrived before the sorrow.
Following the New Year’s celebrations and promise to commit to resolutions, the first baby of the year was born at UPMC Susquehanna.
The baby arrived shortly before 5 a.m. Jan. 2. The story, aptly written by veteran newspaper man Philip A. Holmes, the lead police and fire reporter for the Sun-Gazette, described how Dusty Harkey was 37 weeks pregnant when she walked into the Williamsport Regional Medical Center’s Birthplace.
It’s over but it’s not.
City Council passed a half-mill real estate tax increase and approved Mayor Derek Slaughter’s $29 million 2021 budget Thursday, but with an eye toward reopening the budget in January to see if further reductions to the size of tax millage increase can take place.
Council and the administration set the tax rate at 16.22 mills, but upon getting information from Norman Lubin, city solicitor, learned it had to before Feb. 15 to reopen, discuss options and adopt the reopened budget.
If nothing is done, the half-mill is $50 more per tax bill for households assessed at $100,000.
To reach a quarter-mill would require finding $217,000 more in reductions or a combination of revenue or cut in staff, Council President Randall J. Allison said.