Bankrupt healthcare giant closing two hospitals in Pennsylvania
Two hospitals in Pennsylvania are closing, in a devastating outcome for the local community. Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital will shut after parent company Prospect Medical Holdings filed for bankruptcy in January. The healthcare giant has been trying to hammer out a deal with a potential buyer for months to avoid full closure of the facilities, but with no luck.
After months of uncertainty, employees received emails on Monday letting them know that the hospitals would close and more than 2,600 people would be laid off. Despite last-minute cash influxes in recent months, Prospect said it had made the 'extremely difficult decision' and would begin moving patients as soon as Wednesday.
Some services already began moving out of the hospitals earlier this month. The hospitals will then cease elective inpatient admissions and trauma, surgical, obstetrics and gynecology, burn, behavioral health, oncology, and outpatient services. Patients with complex needs will then be moved to other facilities. Paul Rundell, Prospect's chief restructuring officer, said in a statement: 'We've worked tirelessly with the Pennsylvania Attorney General and other parties to do everything possible to prevent this outcome.
'Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a viable alternative.' He added that the focus remains on seamlessly transitioning patients to other health facilities so that they can continue to receive the critical, uninterrupted care they require, and supporting employees as they look for other work. Prospect already closed nearby Delaware County Memorial Hospital and Springfield Hospital in 2022. Once Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital close, the 577,000 residents of Delaware County will only have two inpatient community hospitals.
Pennsylvania state senator Tim Kearney expressed his devastation at the closures. It is a 'devastating and disgraceful blow to our communities, our health care workers, and every patient who has ever relied on our local hospital system,' he said. Following the announcement, Delaware Country declared a seven-day disaster emergency to help provide immediate support to those impacted, CBS News reported.
Governor Shapiro said on Monday: 'Prospect Medical Holdings, the for-profit owner of Crozer Health, pillaged these hospitals for their own gain – and today, we see the result of their greed and mismanagement with the announced closure and loss of critical health care services for the people of Delaware County.' Prospect is not the only major hospital chain which has filed for bankruptcy in recent years. Landmark, which operates six specialty hospitals across Florida, Missouri and Georgia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March.
It is not yet known whether Landmark plans to close any hospitals as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, or if facilities will continue to operate as normal. Problems at Landmark also came less than a year after the collapse of Steward Health Care, a major hospital system backed by private equity. The Steward bankruptcy drew government scrutiny and prompted debate about the regulation of private-equity-owned hospitals whose failure could lead to devastating consequences for local communities.
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