Lily Hamilton with the Community Action Relief Project protests the closure of Wright 4, an addiction treatment center in Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, saying the move will limit options for people with addiction in West Philadelphia.Saying that Penn Medicine is not prioritizing care for opioid addiction at a time of soaring overdose deaths, several dozen protesters
The ward will shut down entirely next month, after all current patients have completed the maximum 30-day stay there. In its place, Penn plans to offer 16 inpatient addiction treatment beds between Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania — Cedar Avenue, located about two miles west of Presbyterian, and Pennsylvania Hospital in Center City. The move isat HUP Cedar and Pennsylvania Hospital.
said that the health system will transfer its inpatient drug and alcohol services from Presbyterian to HUP Cedar on July 1 without providing further details. they will also connect patients who need inpatient care with other facilities that do offer it. Penn officials have also offered to meet with protesters about the unit’s closure.
Wright 4 has built a reputation among people with addiction as a safe, welcoming place to recover, advocates said. They said they feared that reputation would be lost with the unit’s closure. In a news release, Penn officials said that the addiction treatment beds on Wright 4 will be converted to medical-surgical beds to shorten emergency room wait times and provide more beds for patients recovering from surgery.