By Alex Rose
Daily Times
CHESTER, Pa. 鈥� Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital will reportedly begin closing from the emergency departments on up as early as 8 a.m. Wednesday.
This does not appear to be another in a series of 鈥渦nless we get more money鈥� scenarios presented by Crozer Health鈥檚 for-profit California -based parent company, Prospect Medical Holdings, as part of its ongoing bankruptcy process, but a decision that has already been made and that will begin to be implemented this week.
Prospect鈥檚 decision to close the two hospitals was reportedly reached during an emergency meeting of executives Monday morning. The Daily Times obtained an email shortly thereafter sent out to the emergency medical services team by EMS Chief Chuck Snyder indicating emergency departments would stop accepting patients Wednesday morning.
鈥淚 am deeply saddened to share that Prospect has announced today that they will be moving forward with the closure of Crozer Health,鈥� Snyder said in the email. 鈥淚 have very limited information at this time, but interim CEO Greg Williams shared that our EDs will stop accepting patients as of 0800 on Wednesday, 4/23, with the full closure of our hospitals to be completed within 30 days.鈥�
The chief restructuring officer for Prospect Medical Holdings, Paul Rundell, had this statement:
鈥淭oday, Prospect Medical Holdings made the extremely difficult decision to begin winding down operations across our Crozer Health facilities. The ambulatory surgery and imaging centers at Brinton Lake, Broomall, Haverford, and Media will remain open.
鈥淧MH recognizes the impact this action will have on patients as well as team members.
鈥淲e鈥檝e 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.
鈥淎t this time, the focus at Crozer Health remains on seamlessly transitioning patients to other health facilities so that they can continue to receive the critical, uninterrupted care they require, and to support Crozer Health team members as they seek to identify other employment opportunities.鈥�
Prospect was expected to file a closure motion Monday, which would trigger an emergency hearing before U.S. Judge Stacey G.C. Jernigan of the Northern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court for approval. That hearing could take place as early as Tuesday.
One employee received a text that indicated 1,908 employees at CCMC would be permanently terminated, along with 351 employees at Taylor Hospital, 45 at CCMC behavioral health, 88 at Crozer鈥檚 corporate offices, 126 at Springfield Hospital, 53 at the Springfield offices, and 80 at two other office locations.
鈥淧rospect鈥檚 decision to move forward with the closure of the Crozer Health System is a devastating and disgraceful blow to our communities, our healthcare workers, and every patient who has ever relied on our local hospital system,鈥� said the Delaware County Legislative Delegation, which includes County Council, in a statement. 鈥淧rospect is willfully closing Crozer Health after state and local officials, regional health systems, and philanthropic partners exhausted their ability and financial resources to salvage the hospital system. Yet again, Prospect decided to put profits over patients by putting Crozer鈥檚 assets up for auction.鈥�
Brett Hambright, press secretary for Attorney General Dave Sunday, said the office was 鈥渄eeply disappointed鈥� with the announcement after working with the governor鈥檚 office and other state and local leaders for months to avoid this outcome.
鈥淯nfortunately, the damage inflicted by Leonard Green & Partners 鈥� the private equity owners of Prospect 鈥� who prioritized their own wealth over the wellbeing of a community, was too much to overcome,鈥� Hambright said in a statement. 鈥淭he heroic Crozer staff, who continued to provide top-quality care and services throughout this process, deserved a better outcome. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our office, that resolution proved out of reach. We will continue to work through the bankruptcy process to pursue the commonwealth鈥檚 financial claims to the greatest extent possible in order to hold Prospect accountable for actions that caused this closure.鈥�
The hospitals remain the only two still functioning under the Crozer banner. Springfield and Delaware County Memorial hospitals have been already closed after Prospect took control of the system through a sale in 2016.
Prospect was sued for breach of contract related to that sale and for mismanagement last year by former Pennsylvania Attorney Michelle Henry. The company filed for bankruptcy on many of its out-of-state properties in a Texas bankruptcy court in January.
Since that time, FTI Solutions was appointed as a receiver to oversee day-to-day operations of the system, and local, state and federal officials have been scrambling to keep Crozer open as potential new buyers were sought.
The legislative delegation noted that Prospect had previously received $20 million from the county and the commonwealth, and another $20 million from the Foundation for Delaware County, which was created as part of the Crozer Health system鈥檚 sale to Prospect in 2016.
State Rep. Leanne Krueger, D-161, said Pennsylvania has actually provided Prospect with more than $60 million over the last nine years to keep the system going, but Prospect鈥檚 demands have become unreasonable. While the talented and dedicated staff of its hospitals continued to show up to care for their patients, Prospect was milking the system for all that it was worth and is now exiting stage left, she said.
鈥淭his outcome is one that Prospect led us into by systematically disinvesting in our health care system in Delaware County and then refusing to negotiate a sale in good faith,鈥� said Krueger. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e extracted everything they could out of the system. They squeezed every bit of profit that they could for themselves out of the system and now they鈥檙e leaving Delaware County residents holding the bag.鈥�
The sheer number of jobs that will be lost in the midst of what could be the start of a drastic national economic downturn is not lost on the Delco delegation either.
鈥淐rozer has been one of the largest employers in Delaware County,鈥� Krueger said. 鈥淭hat and preserving access to health care has been why we were fighting so hard against a closure. But when you are up against an out-of-state hedge fund who only cares about maximizing profits for themselves and uses every legal strategy they can find to shirk responsibility, this is unfortunately how things sometimes end.鈥�
Attorney Bill Curtin, representing Prospect as the debtor-in-possession, warned at a bankruptcy court hearing earlier this month that the company was burning through cash and that without another $9 million injection, it could begin winding up operations as soon as April 10.
Crozer was held aloft by securing another $5 million from Penn Medicine and $1 million from Delaware County. Curtin indicated that money would keep the doors open for about another week to 10 days as stakeholders continued to try to convince a consortium of unknown potential buyers to purchase Crozer.
Obstetrics and gynecological services were soon being transferred out of Crozer Health, with Main Line Health saying it was ready to provide those services, and Taylor Hospital鈥檚 Home Care Hospice Units were expected to close by June 10, and now maybe sooner.
In another development, Pennsylvania Institute of Technology will be absorbing Crozer-Chester Medical Center鈥檚 School of Clinical Neurophysiology.
Those are the divestitures that the Daily Times knows about. It鈥檚 unclear if there have been more.
鈥淧rivate equity鈥檚 decimation of Crozer is an abomination 鈥� the corporate abuse that our hospitals went through should be criminally illegal, and the investors and executives who did this to us should be held accountable,鈥� The Delco delegation stated. 鈥淭he American healthcare system 鈥� by far the most expensive in the world 鈥� is fundamentally broken, and Crozer鈥檚 saga sadly exemplifies this.鈥�
State Sen. Tim Kearney, D-26, Swarthmore, a member of that delegation along with state Sens. John Kane, D-9, of Birmingham; Anthony H. Williams, D-8, Philadelphia; and state Reps. Krueger, Wallingford ; Jennifer O鈥橫ara, D-165, Springfield ; Gina H. Curry , D-164, Upper Darby ; Lisa Borowski , D-168, Radnor ; Heather Boyd , D-163, Upper Darby ; Carol Kazeem , D-159, Chester; David Delloso , D-162, Ridley Park ; Greg Vitali , D-166, Haverford ; Regina Young , D-185, Philadelphia ; and Speaker Joanna McClinton , D-191, Philadelphia , said the financial situation Prospect foisted on the region was untenable for years.
Kearney said the only silver lining, if you could call it that, was that the closure had sort of been happening in slow motion, which allowed for months of planning by Delaware County Council and the Delaware County Health Department.
One of the biggest issues still to tackle in that regard, Kearney said, is the fact that Crozer provides more than half of the ambulances in the county. That prompted Upper Darby and Ridley Park to declare emergencies related to Crozer鈥檚 closure, and for Aston to create a municipal authority for emergency transport coverage.
Crozer CEO Tony Esposito meanwhile announced last week in the midst of all of this that he would be stepping down after five years with the company.
鈥淭he other thing, from a legislative point of view, is that private equity should not be running public healthcare systems,鈥� Kearney said. 鈥淲e gotta remember who the real bad guy is here. 鈥� It鈥檚 the way that it鈥檚 been run for the last four, five years. It鈥檚 also the fact that 鈥� why is the hospital system losing that much money? The $10 million, which would buy two weeks of salaries, that鈥檚 in the context that they said they鈥檙e losing $11 or $12 million a month as well. The whole thing is untenable. We鈥檙e really going to have to keep our eye on the bankruptcy court and make sure people understand what鈥檚 happening. So were not done with it yet.
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