Jefferson Health is closing the emergency room at Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park

Jefferson Health is closing the emergency department at Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park on Friday, as part of a plan to expand MossRehab on the same 30-acre campus.

Jefferson is directing patients who need emergency services to two other hospitals it owns, Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia and Abington Hospital.

Its plans to close the Elkins Park emergency room and its inpatient beds were first disclosed in 2020 during an antitrust trial that Jefferson won against the Federal Trade Commission, which tried to block the nonprofit health system’s acquisition of Einstein Healthcare Network.

Jefferson officials testified during the trial that the Elkins Park campus handled only 16,000 visits annually — or about 44 per day, a relatively light volume. The inpatient unit was typically only half full. More recent data were not available from public sources because the Elkins Park facility operates under Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia’s license.

Jefferson announced its agreement to acquire Einstein Healthcare Network in March 2018, but did not complete the deal until October 2021, thanks to delays from the antitrust trial and the impact of COVID-19.

The changes at Elkins Park are part of an effort at Jefferson to reduce duplication of services — some of which are underutilized — at its 14 acute-care hospitals. The plans have not generated the level of alarm among politicians and others seen when Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. announced plans last year to close the emergency department at Delaware County Memorial Hospital.

Moving inpatient rehabilitation services at Abington Hospital to the Elkins Park campus will allow Abington to add 23 general medical beds, Jefferson said.