Crozer Health appears poised for closure after its owner asked a bankruptcy court to approve a plan to shut down the system's four Delaware County hospitals.
The for-profit parent company Prospect Medical Holdings filed an emergency motion late Thursday to authorize the "expedited closure" of Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Springfield Hospital, Taylor Hospital and Delaware County Memorial Hospital. (The latter has been "temporarily" closed since 2022.) If it is granted, Prospect Medical would aim to shutter the health care hubs by Friday, March 14.
Five other Crozer facilities — Media Medical Plaza, Crozer Health at Broomall, the Surgery Center at Haverford, Crozer Medical Plaza at Brinton Lake and the Community Campus in Chester — could close on that date, too.
The company claimed in court documents that it had tried and failed to identify new sources of funding for Crozer Health, the largest health care provider in Delaware County. Operating the Pennsylvania hospitals beyond March 14, it wrote, would jeopardize the rest of its holdings. Prospect Medical also owns health systems in Connecticut, Rhode Island and California, where it is based. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on Jan. 11.
A judge ordered Prospect Health, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday and the Foundation of Delaware County to meet in Harrisburg by noon Monday to "attempt to resolve certain issues relating to funding and ongoing operation" of the hospitals.
While Crozer Health assured patients in a message Friday that "no final decisions have been made," local lawmakers have already accepted the closure as a done deal.
"The closure of Taylor Hospital and Crozer-Chester Medical Center wasn't inevitable, it is the direct result of greed and incompetence from Prospect's corrupt ownership group," Richard Womack, vice chair of Delaware County Council, said in a statement. "As officials accountable to our neighbors and their needs, we worked hard to create an excellent Health Department that is building public health infrastructure to serve the community and supporting residents navigating these changes."
State Rep. Tarik Khan (D-194), a former nurse practitioner who represents portions of Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, said in a video released Friday that he was working on a bill with state Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-168), of Delco, to "hold these for-profit companies to a different standard when it comes to owning our hospitals."
The Delaware County Health Department is encouraging patients to call its 24/7 wellness line at (484) 276-2100 for updates on the case and help connecting to services. The department also has created a page to follow the bankruptcy proceedings online.
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