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.
New patients are no longer being admitted to Crozer hospitals. Patients brought to its locations will be treated and either released or 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. Patients at the burn unit and inpatient psych units are being transferred to other facilities.
Delaware County officials announced Wednesday afternoon that while Crozer Health is diverting medical emergencies from their emergency rooms, Crozer-Chester will continue to accept crisis emergencies until 8 a.m. Monday, April 28, as part of the county's emergency declaration.
A spokesperson for Main Line Health said its hospitals are starting to see an increase in patients Wednesday. A spokesperson for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic said Mercy Fitzgerald is experiencing a "moderate increase."
Federal judge approves Prospect's closure of Crozer Health
On Tuesday, 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.
"It's the fear of the unknowing"
Joe Squire from Wilmington has Type 1 diabetes. His primary care doctor, endocrinologist and podiatrist are all based at Crozer-Chester.
"I'm hoping that my doctor might at least reach out and give me an idea of somebody I can go to," Squire said.
Squire said he's planning to follow one of his doctors to Springfield but says if the other two go far away, he'll have to switch providers.
"It's the fear of the unknowing," Squire said. "I mean, I have to go. You have to find another doctor, and like I said, I've been with my doctor for decades, so it's nothing I ever had to worry about."
Some patients, like breast cancer survivor Karla Beaver, are working to get copies of their medical records to transfer to new providers.
Beaver says she was given a 1-800 number to call. She has four doctors at Crozer and says she needs her providers to be close.
"I have anxiety, and I don't do highways," Beaver said. "With my anxiety, like my anxiety flared up yesterday. Like hearing this situation, it's very sad."
