Bellevue officials are working to organize a "town hall" type of meeting to discuss changes at the Allegheny General Hospital - Suburban Campus.

Hospital administrators have proposed the potential elimination of inpatient services at the Bellevue facility, which by law would eliminate the hospital's emergency room. Administrators say that only 4 percent of Suburban's services include inpatient admissions, while some 90 percent involve outpatient services such as lab testing and visits to doctors' offices. Critics of the proposed changes at the campus say AGH has, for several years, diverted surgeries and inpatient admissions to the Main Campus on the North Side.

Bellevue Council president Kathy Coder said at the council meeting Tuesday that the hospital will not be closed, as has been rumored. Coder said that she was told by a hospital administrator that "'We have a moral obligation to the North Boroughs. We are not leaving.'"

Mayor George Doscher, who along with Coder has met with hospital representatives, said that AGH administrators have been carefully noncommittal with regard to their plans for Suburban Campus.

"They were very cautious in how they spoke to us," Doscher said.

Council member Linda Woshner has been trying to set up a town hall meeting to respond to residents who are, she said, concerned about the future of the hospital. She said that a Web site -- www.saveoursgh.com -- has been set up for people to share concerns and information.

Council unanimously approved holding a public meeting for residents and hospital officials. Woshner said that she hoped the meeting could be held during the second week of May, possibly at Bellevue Elementary School auditorium.

AGH is expected to make a decision shortly on whether inpatient and emergency services will continue to be offered at the Suburban Campus. Once that decision is made, administrators will decide what other services should be offered at the local hospital.