Shriners Hospitals for Children - Erie will no longer perform surgeries by the end of 2020, according to an announcement Tuesday.

Instead, the medical center will expand its surgical partnerships with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hamot and Shriners Hospitals for Children Philadelphia.

“We are adapting our model to allow us to reach more kids who need our specialized care,” said Mary Jane Antoon, MSN, RN, FACHE, administrator, Shriners Hospitals for Children Erie.

The Shriners medical center in Erie will also be expanding its care options in 2020 to serve more kids in more places.

It will be adding full-time physical medicine & rehabilitation (PM&R) physician to expand the pediatric physiatry program, which launched in 2018. The physician will consider biological, psychological and social issues, then develop a treatment plan that focuses on function.

The medical center is also expanding its speech therapy services to two, full-time speech language pathologists. This will allow Shriners to increase speech therapy offerings and continue the growth of the pediatric rehabilitation program, including occupational, physical and speech therapies.

The Shriners Hospital plans to develop a program to make access to its pediatric rehabilitation and orthotic and prosthetic services easier and more convenient for children who need of care. It is also considering long-term plans for new, outpatient pediatric rehabilitation centers in surrounding communities.