Berks County-based Tower Health is laying off more than 100 nurses and health care workers and cutting services at Pottstown Hospital in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

On Monday morning, staffers, patients and community leaders rallied outside the hospital, voicing their concerns about the layoffs, some saying they felt blindsided by Tower's decision.

Johnny Corson has spent four years in a fight to live.

"I'm pissed off," Corson said.

Corson receives monthly infusions for multiple myeloma at Pottstown Hospital.

"When you get diagnosed with cancer, the first thing you think about is death, and that stays with you," Corson said. "I never thought about death before."

Corson was sickened to learn Tower Health, the parent company of the 70-year-old hospital, was shutting down the cancer center and laying off dozens of staff members, including nurses. 

"Them nurses there, they treat you like your family," Corson said. "They treat you with a smile, they cater to you, they make you feel like a king, the female a queen."

On Monday morning, hospital workers described the situation as "life-upending" and called the layoffs a "blindsiding."

A representative for Tower Health confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia that, in all, 131 positions will be eliminated within 60 days as the hospital closes the ICU, cancer and endoscopy centers.

"My coworkers and bosses were not only caring for their patients, but for me as well," Maria Guitierez said.

Guitierez is a cancer center nurse who says she worked, caring for others, while battling her own cancer.

"Because that's the Pottstown Hospital way," Guitierez said. "We care for each other and the members of this community that we are all a part of."

Tower Health said services will be offered at its other locations. In a statement, a spokesperson said, in part, "These difficult decisions were not made lightly. They were made out of necessity to ensure that we can chart our own pathway forward and continue serving our communities."

Hospital workers call it a sad moment.

"That building has seen births, deaths, recoveries, heartbreaks and miracles," Beth Ridgely, an ICU nurse, said, "and for many in this community, it's more than bricks and beds, it's a lifeline."

Corson said he's filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Attorney General. He's worried about hospital workers.

"How can you go tell the nurses they won't have a job in 60 days? They have to treat their patients with a smile on their faces. They can't let their emotions come out," Corson said.

A representative speaking on behalf of Tower Health said, despite rumors, these moves are happening so that the hospital can remain open, and that there are no plans to close.

We reached out to the attorney general's office and are waiting to hear back.