Crozer Health system in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, won't close Wednesday as negotiations continue
The Crozer Health system in Delaware County will not close on Wednesday night as efforts to secure $9 million in funding to keep it open remain ongoing, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
The
financial deadline to keep the hospitals open
was 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Sources very close to the negotiating table said there has been some positive progress. According to sources, enough money has been identified to avoid an imminent closure and buy more time.
People are holding their breaths inside the medical facilities as a potential closure looms. One worker said in a text that they've been left in the dark and don't know anything. Another nurse at Crozer-Chester Medical Center said they've been told by management they have cautious optimism about a deal, but be prepared for closure.
According to sources, a meeting of the movers and shakers has gone on for several hours on Wednesday.
Lawyers for
Prospect Medical Holdings
, Crozer Health's parent company, said Tuesday that without an additional $9 million to cover payroll for two more weeks, the closure process at Crozer-Chester and
Taylor Hospital
, and other medical campuses across Delaware County would start Friday morning.
The first action would be to divert ambulance traffic away from Crozer and Taylor Hospitals.
CBS News Philadelphia got an exclusive look inside 911 operations Wednesday morning.
Crozer EMS handles more than 50% of the county's workload. Sources say for months, officials have been developing contingency plans, and as many have told CBS News Philadelphia on background Wednesday, they fear they're at the end of the road with any deal to save these hospitals.
Sources also said that if Prospect Medical does file a motion with the court to begin closings, Delaware County is set to declare a state of emergency.
For state lawmakers, they're furious it has come to this. They believe that if a deal was so close, Prospect Medical should reconsider its timeline.
"I think they could choose to stay open for a couple more days," Pennsylvania Rep. Leanne Krueger, a Democrat, said. "If they are this close to a deal, then they should buy themselves the time to actually execute the deal."
"Remember, this is a for-profit company that has extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from our healthcare system to make themselves richer, and now we are on the verge of losing our healthcare system," she added.
At the center of the possible closure of Crozer and Taylor are patients who depend on the hospitals for critical and primary care and more than 3,000 employees who work at the facilities.
If the Crozer Health system closes, the only hospitals nearby in Delco would be Main Line Health's Riddle Memorial Hospital on Route 352 and Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby.
"This is real close, it's in the neighborhood, it would be a disaster for us and they should keep it open," said Michele Jackson, who is a patient at Taylor Hospital.
Jackson receives critical rehabilitation services at the hospital.
"I'm handicapped, I walk with a cane, I have issues with my knees," Jackson said.
According to the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, Jackson is one of nearly 200,000 who will lose quick access to essential and primary care if Crozer Health shuts down, leaving patients in a tough spot.
"To me personally, it affects me greatly because I receive treatment here, care here all the time, specialized care, and now it's going to shut down soon," Alusine Baimba, a Taylor patient, said. "I don't know."
"You just can't change doctors," she said. "You have to arrange, except for emergencies."
Taylor Hospital has been caring for patients for decades. It's a major convenience for patients like Amanda Plemenos.
"It would just be insane if it wasn't here," Plemenos said. "It would just be weird, just be an empty building to be able to help the community out with you know, I have a knee injury right now."
It's not just patients that would be affected by the Crozer Health system closing, it would mean more than 3,000 people in the network would lose jobs.
"It's heartbreaking, and we look in our patients' eyes and they really need our care, our patients are really sick right now," said Peggy Malone, who is the president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association.
Jackson remains hopeful.
"Hopefully, another hospital or someone will pick it up and keep it open," she said.
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