Patients, former patients and employees rallied in Plainfield Saturday to prevent the closure of Muhlenberg Medical Center.
More than 200 people attended the rally in hopes of convincing the hospital?s owner to not shut its doors.
?We don?t want this hospital to close,? says Dr. Richard Tiedemann. ?It is very important for the community. It is a travesty of justice that we are not supported by the government.?
About 1,100 employees will be out of a job when the medical center closes. Some residents fear the added miles and minutes it will take to get to other hospitals could be a matter of life and death.
"There is nothing close if there's a true emergency,? says picketer Elsie Harrison.
Hospital officials issued a statement saying the rally punctuates Muhlenberg?s dire state. The statement also says the hospital has no alternative but to close.
Plainfield hospital set to close doors