MAHONING & SHENANGO VALLEYS - The closure of Sharon Regional Hospital is affecting surrounding hospitals. It is also creating serious wait times for emergency services, including those in Brookfield Township.

The township's fire and emergency medical services (EMS) have to travel further to transport people to other hospitals and wait longer.

The Brookfield Fire Department has transported many people to Sharon Regional Hospital over the years. David Masirovits, Brookfield fire chief, said its closure is directly affecting the department's availability.

The fire and EMS crew transports patients to the UPMC Horizon hospital in Farrell, but they were told it could take nearly five hours before their patient is assigned a bed.

The chief said his department does not have the staffing needed to manage long wait times which hurts their EMS and fire service.

"That tend[s] to spark something with me that I lose a crew for that long out of the area. We do have mutual aid to cover us, but we don't always have the staffing to accommodate even a two hour wait time [or] a one hour wait time," Masirovits said.

The chief told 21 News that they are seeing an increase in emergency calls having to transport and waiting with their patient takes away from their duties on the home front.

"Here in Brookfield, we're cross trained, so we have EMS and fire personnel. So not only is our EMS out of service or reduced drastically, but our fire service is also reduced," Masirovits said.

A statement from UPMC in response to wait time concerns can be found below:

"Our goal is to start and complete the best care as promptly and safely as possible. For most, if they have an emergency department wait, it is short. But, given the high numbers of people seeking emergency care at some sites — especially during the winter months and respiratory virus season — we must use an initial triage process in each UPMC emergency department to help prioritize patients for care when immediate space is tight. That evaluation is done by a trained professional and uses many factors, including potential severity and time waiting to aid. We empathize with those who do experience a wait in the process. UPMC is seeing an increase in cases of respiratory viruses, including COVID, influenza and RSV. To protect the health and safety of our employees, patients and visitors, everyone in our health care facilities is strongly encouraged to wear effective masks, which reduce transmission of respiratory viruses in health care settings."