Crozer Health in Pennsylvania to stay open for now, long-term plans remain unclear
The attorney for Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, said Thursday the system is in a good news-bad news situation.
First, the good news: There will be no imminent closure of any of these health care facilities.
With the assistance of the Pennsylvania attorney general, Penn Medicine came forward with a proposal in which it will contribute $5 million and acquire lease interests at two Crozer campuses — Brinton Lake and Broomall — and some medical equipment and furniture, a lawyer for Prospect said.
That alleviates the pressure to meet payroll and helps keep the doors open for at least another week.
Delaware County is also providing $1 million. That is an advance of money the county expects to owe for behavioral health services.
The funding will go to the receiver overseeing the system, FTI Consulting, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania Attorney General David Sunday said.
The attorney general's office is "among the parties actively engaged in negotiating" a sale of the system, the spokesperson said.
The health system needed $9 million to meet payroll or else it would have to start shutting down Thursday, attorneys said in a hearing earlier this week.
In an emailed statement, a Penn Medicine spokesperson said in part, "Penn Medicine has continued to work closely with partners who are committed to preserving health care access for residents of Delaware County who rely on Crozer Health."
"Though these efforts are in the early stages, we plan to ensure continued operations in these facilities, and over time, offer re-imagined, expanded services to improve the health of local residents," the spokesperson said
A deputy attorney general said during the hearing that some workers may be seen wearing new uniforms — a hint that they may still work at Crozer facilities but will be employed by other health care providers.
The total money raised is short of that $9 million. The Prospect attorney told the court this buys the system seven to 10 days.
In the meantime, to try and ease sudden shutdowns, some service lines will be transitioned out of Crozer.
The first will be obstetrics and gynecology services, according to the attorney.
Other services are expected to be affected, but it's not clear what they will be.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said Thursday Crozer Health is "critically important" for Delaware County and the Philadelphia region.
"The commonwealth has invested millions and millions of dollars to keep Crozer operating while we can come up with a long-term solution," Shapiro said. "Now is the time for that. I know that regional health care leaders have been coming together to try and put forth ideas on how they can help manage the future of Crozer."
The bankrupt health system has received a total of $40 million in stopgap funding since February.
County officials are trying to form a consortium of nonprofits to take over the system, but sources say the operation is an unattractive purchase because it currently loses millions of dollars each year.
PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, said in a statement: "We are grateful for the work of the commonwealth, the Office of the Attorney General, and all stakeholders over these last months and particularly the last 24 hours to allow the doors to Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital to remain open. Our primary concern from the beginning has been the stability of the health care system in Delaware County."
"Keeping frontline staff in the buildings and on the job is integral to that concern. The doors to the health system must not just stay open – the services the health system provides must persist and the staff must be there to serve the citizens of Delaware County when they are at their most vulnerable," the statement continues.
The Crozer system employs about 3,000 people and cares for thousands of patients.
