Crozer Health hospitals begin diverting patients after judge approves Prospect's closure plans
Crozer Health hospitals in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, began diverting patients from their emergency departments Wednesday morning, one day after a federal bankruptcy judge approved Prospect Medical Holdings' plan to close the health system.
Patients brought to Crozer Health locations will be treated and released or treated and transferred to other hospitals in the area. With the closure of Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital, Delaware County now has only Riddle and Mercy-Fitzgerald hospitals remaining.
Nearby hospitals will absorb Crozer Health patients, including Riddle Hospital, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in University City and ChristianaCare Wilmington Hospital in Delaware.
Elective inpatient admissions have also stopped at Crozer-Chester and Taylor hospitals. Many other services, including trauma, surgery, oncology, as well as obstetrics and gynecology, have also been discontinued. The emergency departments will no longer accept patients by ambulance either.
Federal judge approves Prospect's closure of Crozer Health
On Tuesday, April 22, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan authorized Prospect Medical Holdings' plan to close the Crozer Health system. In approving the closure, Jernigan said she loses sleep over the "widespread consequences" of the ruling.
The closing decision comes after a monthslong effort to save the Crozer Health system failed. Almost $50 million was invested in Crozer to keep the payroll going. Last week, a $5 million deal between the California-based Prospect and Penn Medicine to keep the system operating collapsed. According to testimony, Crozer Health has $19 million on hand.
Closing Crozer-Chester and Taylor hospitals is expected to cost upward of $30 million.
Crozer-Chester admitted 19,000 patients, treated 53,000 emergency department patients and delivered 1,700 babies every year.
Lawmakers, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Attorney General David Sunday, fought to save the system while condemning Prospect. Democratic State Sen. John Kane is calling for criminal charges against Prospect.
"There's got to be a crime. To me, this is worse than blue-collar crime," Kane said. "This, to me, is fleecing of America when you have a corporation that comes in like that and steals all this money and shuts down a hospital that is so needed in Chester and the area, and this entire community."
What happens next for Crozer Health?
Thousands of Crozer Health hospital workers received email notices Monday about the system's closure. Layoffs impacting more than 2,600 employees are expected to begin Friday.
Prospect anticipates that the full closure of Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital will be completed within 30 days.
Earlier this week, a Prospect spokesperson claimed the ambulatory surgery and imaging centers at Brinton Lake, Broomall, Haverford and Media will stay open.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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