TRUMBULL COUNTY, OH - After nearly a year of trying to bring two Trumbull County hospitals back online, Insight health is stepping away, at least for now.

An Insight spokesperson told 21 News "Insight understands how important this hospital is to the health of the community, and we are committed to working closely with federal, state and local partners to move forward in the best way possible.”

With no license to operate, the Trumbull County hospital doors remain closed.

“It's very disheartening. We need another hospital in Trumbull County,” said Rick Hernandez, Trumbull County commissioner.

While ODH said Insight can reapply for their license, the company did not say how they planned to move forward.

If Insight does decide to reapply, there are multiple obstacles they will need to face. Insight still does not have its CMS certification, meaning they cannot accept medicare or medicaid enrollees.

There are also the deficiencies in the building, which were mentioned by ODH.

Hernandez said despite these hurdles, he is continuing to reach out to Insight while looking at other options.

"I won't stop actively pursuing insight to see if maybe that is, you know, and something that could happen. But at this point, I think, you know, we really have to look into other opportunities,' said Hernandez.

Any sale could be complicated by the fact that while Insight owns the hospitals as business entities, they never purchased the real estate, which remains the physical property of Medical Properties Trust. When asked about MPT,  Hernandez said at this point, they will need to find someone willing to work with MPT, at least for now. Even so, he does not want to give up.

“We're going to have to find an interest from a suitable hospital that will be willing to either operate the existing hospitals and take care of whatever deficiencies there may be there to get their licensing or to consider building a new hospital,” said Hernandez.

Union representatives agree that there needs to be another hospital in Trumbull County. Chrissy Lewis, SEIU District 1199 union representative, said she was shocked to hear Insight gave up their license.

“I seriously believed them when they said that they had intentions on reopening,” said Lewis. “I would be happy if Insight would reopen us. I would be happy if somebody bought us. I just really believe that there needs to be another hospital in this community, and Trumbull was a wonderful hospital.”

Lewis said they had grievance meetings scheduled, and a SEIU member was working in the lab, keeping everything up to date to reopen. 

Tom Connelly, AFSCME Local 2026 president, said Insight is not the answer.

“I don't believe they're serious about opening it, and I know that they have not reached out or spoken to the nurses that work there. I know most of the doctors have left there. I don't know what their intentions are when they don't talk to the community, then the community just doesn't know what they're doing,” said Connelly.

Connelly and Lewis said employees still have not received their WARN notice pay. Connelly also said most of the nurses have already found new jobs, but Lewis said some of her members are holding onto hope.

“They're not walking away. They've devoted their entire careers here and to this hospital and to this community, and they're not about to give up now,” said Lewis.

The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber sent 21 News a statement, pointing to the other hospital options in the valley. 

"The decision by Insight to surrender its hospital license does not change the fact that the Mahoning Valley is served by a strong, high-quality health care network. Residents continue to have access to excellent care provided by trusted systems, including Mercy Health, Southwoods Health and Akron Children’s Hospital, along with other physicians, providers and medical partners."


Warren Mayor Doug Franklin also sent 21 News a statement about how he plans to move forward:

“My conversations with representatives from Insight, within the last 2 hours, have not confirmed the surrendering of their license to operate the hospital, as reported. However, as Mayor, my focus remains the same; and that's making sure our community regains access to quality hospital health care. It is my hope that Insight, or any other potential operator, continues the work needed to reopen the hospital.”