Update on Crozer Chester
Rep. Leanne Krueger August 13, 2024
Aug. 13, 2024
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about Crozer Chester so an update in our weekly newsletter feels appropriate. This is longer than our usual email updates, but the situation is very complicated. Crozer-Chester Medical Center is located in our district in Upland Borough and I have been getting reports about internal conditions from both employees and patients on the ground since before the COVID pandemic. The Crozer Health system includes Crozer Chester, Taylor Hospital, Delaware Community Memorial (which they closed in 2022) and Springfield Hospital (which they closed in 2022). While the Crozer hospital system is currently owned by Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., the California hedge fund that bought the system in 2016, they have been under orders by the courts to sell to a non-profit within a 270-day window that started on February 1st. I’ve been working closely with Delaware County Council, the Governor’s Office, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Office of the Attorney General to escalate concerns to the appropriate entities as soon as I receive them.
On Aug. 7, Prospect announced that they had entered into an agreement of sale with CHA Partners LLC. The Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General is currently reviewing the agreement and has responsibility for legal oversight of the sale. I have not yet seen the LOI or the terms of the sale. We know that the potential buyer is CHA Partners LLC, a NJ real estate company that buys hospitals in an effort to redevelop them into mixed-use medical facilities. CHA plans to work with an affiliated entity called Healthcare Prepared Partners to convert Crozer back to a nonprofit system.
Yesterday I learned through the press that Crozer Health plans to shutter operating room services at Taylor Hospital by Sept. 1. This information was not shared with local elected officials before we read about it in the press.
I am deeply concerned about the lack of transparency in this process and my top concern is preserving the healthcare system that we rely on here in Delaware County, including the county’s only trauma center. Last week I asked the Attorney General’s Office to provide as much accountability as legally possible during this process. I will continue to fight to save our hospital and will continue to keep you posted on our efforts. If you have a first-hand experience that you want to share, please send me an email at RepKrueger@pahouse.net or call my office.
For more information, visit New Jersey-based CHA Partners wants to buy Crozer - WHYY.