March 25, 2025 It has been a very eventful week in the efforts to prevent a closure at Crozer-Chester Medical Center with a lot of roller coasters and a lot of press coverage. Last Wednesday, the bankruptcy judge in Texas held a status hearing on the situation at Crozer because payroll was only covered through March 21. Before that hearing, my colleagues and I sent a letter to the judge explaining why we were fighting so hard to prevent a closure after the judge asked for information at a previous hearing about Delaware County's population and how many hospitals would be left to serve our County if the Crozer system closed and none of the lawyers in her courtroom could give her any answers. One of them even tried to Google stats about Delco from the courtroom. So we, as elected officials who represent Delco at the state and County level, submitted this letter to the judge so she could have a true picture of the needs of the people we serve. During last Wednesday’s status hearing, both Prospect and the Attorney General's office reported progress towards a possible Asset Purchase Agreement with a reputable nonprofit system, and the hearing ended on a hopeful tone. What was said in the courtroom matched what I had heard from the Attorney General’s office and Governor’s office in a briefing earlier that day. The situation went south a few hours later. Later that night, we learned that on the very same day, a board member and donor of Read more

During the status hearing in the Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. Bankruptcy proceeding referenced above on March 11, 2025, you asked questions about Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the County served by Crozer Hospital and Taylor Hospital, the last two operating hospitals in the Crozer System, which is owned by the Debtor. As elected officials who serve the County on the Delaware County Council and in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, we wanted to answer your questions and provide some local context as to why a closure of the Crozer Health System would represent such a dire situation for our community. Read more

March 11, 2025 Late Sunday evening, Attorney General Dave Sunday and The Foundation for Delaware County announced that an agreement had been reached “that will keep Crozer Health open for the immediate future while permanent restructuring of the system is solidified.” The announcement came after a six hour in-person meeting on Sunday in Harrisburg that was ordered by the bankruptcy judge in Texas. This morning, in a court hearing in Texas before that same judge, we learned that the agreement essentially buys us two more weeks before Prospect could be back in court with a closure motion (in a hearing currently scheduled for March 26, with a status update hearing scheduled for March 19). In the meantime, the Foundation for Delaware County agreed to the Attorney General’s request for short-term funding. At this point, the situation at Crozer-Chester is still very precarious. Over the last month, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Delaware County Council and now the Foundation of Delaware County have all made investments to attempt to stop a closure. In order for a “permanent restructuring of the system to be solidified,” we need the other health care systems in the region to step up as well. We keep hearing about plans for a nonprofit healthcare consortium that could take over hospital operations or current service lines, but those plans are still very fluid. We also need Prospect to negotiate in good faith and share the information that the Read more

Delco received deeply disappointing news today when Prospect Medical Holdings told a bankruptcy judge in Texas that it will start closure proceedings on its entire Crozer Health system because it will run out of money on March 14. We learned this afternoon that, rather than approving the closure immediately, the bankruptcy judge gave a directive for a face-to-face meeting before noon on Monday between Prospect, the Attorney General’s office, the Foundation for Delaware County and the court-appointed Receiver. Read more

Feb. 25, 2025 I have been closely monitoring the situation at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and am working closely with all parties involved, including the offices of Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, to prevent a disorderly closure. We are working hard to support the dedicated staff who continue providing care to our community under very challenging conditions. I also want to make sure that you are informed of what’s happening. Yesterday Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge George Pagano signed an order officially appointing FTI Consulting Inc. as the receiver to take control of the operations of Prospect Medical Holdings and Prospect Crozer LLC for a period of 30 days, retroactive to Feb. 14. While the receivership was approved by a Texas bankruptcy judge earlier this month, this official order was necessary to empower the Receiver and move the process forward. Over the 30-day period, until March 16, FTI Consulting (the Receiver) will be evaluating the hospital system’s financial condition and the needs of the system moving forward. There is a chance that this 30-day period could be extended by a judge because there is an awful lot of information for the Receiver to unravel. The Receiver will use $10.2 million previously committed by Gov. Shapiro and $9.8 million committed from Delaware County via the Human Services Block Grant to keep operations going at Crozer-Chester Medical Center during this period of time. Read more

Feb. 11, 2025 The fight to prevent a closure at Crozer-Chester Medical Center has been a rollercoaster for everyone involved, but most especially for the dedicated nurses, doctors, paramedics and all the other staff who provide patient care in challenging conditions. We finally saw good news last week when the bankruptcy judge signed a motion to put a receiver in charge and to remove control from Prospect Medical Holdings, the California-based hedge fund that has extracted resources from our hospital system to enrich itself. What happens next is a 30-day window for the receiver to evaluate the financial condition and the needs of the system moving forward. Despite previous announcements from Prospect and Crozer about a sale, the system has not yet been sold and next steps depend on what the receiver finds and future hearings by the bankruptcy judge in Texas. I am cautiously optimistic that we have avoided the disorderly closure that elected officials have been working at all levels to prevent. I am grateful to Gov. Josh Shapiro and Attorney General David Sunday for working in partnership with our Delco delegation of legislators and County Council to get to this point. In his state budget address last week, Gov. Shapiro called for the legislature to pass bills to prevent private equity firms from devastating our health care system. Last session the PA House passed legislation I co-sponsored that would require advanced notice of proposed hospital and health system Read more

Jan. 21, 2025 I am grateful to the local medical professionals and patients who have reached out to me or my office to share their experiences on the ground at Crozer-Chester Medical Center since Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. filed for bankruptcy ten days ago. My staff and I are tracking every call and email we get and escalating the most serious concerns directly to the Governor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office. Please continue to reach out to share your experiences – I can be a better advocate when I get reports from the people who are on the ground. This morning I was on another briefing call with the Governor’s Office and Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office is currently in court fighting to get Crozer-Chester Medical Center turned over to a temporary receiver, which is similar to the litigation they filed in October, but they now have to argue the case in bankruptcy court in Texas because that is where Prospect decided to file for bankruptcy. We all share the goal of getting control out of Prospect’s hands so the hospital can be converted back to a non-profit system where decisions are not being made by private equity executives who only care about maximizing their profits. I will continue to keep you apprised of what is happening with Crozer through this weekly email. In the meantime, anyone who has a question about the bankruptcy proceedings and impact on current health care services can Read more

Jan. 14, 2025 As you may have heard, Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Crozer Health System, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Saturday night, triggering a restructuring of Prospect’s network of hospitals including Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Taylor Hospital and the previously closed Springfield and Delaware County Memorial hospitals. While I’m disappointed by this latest maneuver by the for-profit system, I am not surprised. Prospect has repeatedly put its investors and shareholders before patient care and medical staff for years, creating a crisis in our community that has put patients, families and frontline health care workers at risk for their health, lives and livelihood. Delaware County’s state legislators and elected county officials held a press conference yesterday to call on Prospect and its creditors to make all possible efforts to maintain services and operations at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital while restructuring in bankruptcy and to prioritize the needs of Crozer’s dedicated staff who have heroically served Delaware County patients and families while Prospect let conditions and resources deteriorate to this point. Yesterday we reintroduced legislation that passed the PA House last session but stalled in the Senate to provide oversight and accountability during hospital closures and consolidation. We are also working with the office of the Pennsylvania Read more

Oct. 29, 2024 I know that so many of you are closely following the news about our efforts to save Crozer Chester Hospital and the rest of the Crozer Health System, so I’m writing to share a major development that happened in the last 24 hours. This afternoon I joined Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, members of the state House and Senate, members of Delaware County Council, and the Delaware County District Attorney and Sheriff at a press conference in front of the Delaware County Courthouse steps. Last night Attorney General Henry filed a lawsuit in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas to hold Prospect Medical accountable (Prospect is the California-based hedge fund owner of the Crozer Health System). This new lawsuit highlights years of the company’s mismanagement and neglect of Crozer Health System, which has resulted in closures of facilities and shattered a network of care for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians. The lawsuit also seeks a preliminary injunction to save existing healthcare service lines and the appointment of a receiver to take control of the Crozer Health System for the immediate future to avoid additional closures and cuts to services. The background: the Attorney General’s complaint centers on Prospect’s failure to follow the Asset Purchase Agreement that was approved by the court in 2016, which required that Prospect continue to provide care at all four Delaware County hospitals for at least 10 Read more

Sept. 3, 2024 On Thursday, I joined the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals and concerned residents in front of Taylor Hospital to denounce the hospital’s for-profit owner, Prospect Medical Holdings, for their decision to close the OR and lay off 30 employees at Taylor and 10 more across the Crozer system. Prospect currently owns four hospitals in the Crozer Health system, and they are under a court-appointed timeline to sell the system to a non-profit. Our health care in Delco will continue to suffer until the sale goes through and we get our healthcare back under local control. I will always show up to support our nurses, doctors and other health care professionals, and to ensure quality health care here in Delco. Read more

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 Read more

Oct. 24, 2023 Crozer Health is set to be sold by Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., the Foundation for Delaware County, Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., Prospect Crozer LLC, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The sale process is expected to proceed in 60 days, following a 270-day pause in legal matters surrounding the situation at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. The parties have filed a stipulation in Delaware County Court of Common Pleas to suspend litigation for 270 days, allowing Prospect to focus on efforts to transfer the Crozer Health system to a successor. In February 2022, ChristianaCare Health System signed a letter of intent with Prospect Medical Holdings to acquire the Crozer Health system. However, the deal fell apart due to the economic landscape. In September 2022, Crozer Health officials announced they would be converting Delaware County Memorial Hospital into a behavioral health hospital. CKHS and the foundation filed for an injunction, arguing that Crozer Health violated terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement when Prospect bought the health system in January 2016. The case was heard in Delaware County Court of Common Pleas by Chester County Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Robert J. Shenkin, who ruled that all services and operations of the hospital were to remain. Prospect appealed that order to Commonwealth Court, where the matter now rests. Crozer Health includes two hospitals, outpatient centers, surgery Read more

May 10, 2022 On Wednesday, I joined nurses, paramedics, social workers and Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals in front of Crozer Chester Medical Center to fight for essential health care services for Delco. Prospect, the hedge fund out of California that owns Crozer, is threatening to cut EMS services, behavioral health and drug and alcohol services because they claim they’re not profitable enough. These cuts will cost lives and I’ve been working with elected officials at all levels to fight back. Crozer/Prospect is negotiating a sale of the whole system to Christiana Care in Delaware, but details are not yet public. Read more

Feb. 15, 2022 On Friday, it was announced that ChristianaCare Health System Inc. had signed a letter of intent to acquire the Crozer Health System. A definitive agreement will likely be completed by June. I’ve been in constant contact with nurses and doctors from the Crozer Health system. I am hoping the announcement will lead to better patient care and worker relations at this important Delco institution. Read more

Jan. 11, 2022 Yesterday I learned that the emergency room at Springfield Hospital will temporarily close starting this Friday due to staffing shortages. I also learned that Crozer Health also suspended the inpatient Acute Substance Abuse and Residential Substance Abuse (First Steps) Program at Crozer-Chester Medical Center as of Jan. 7. According to a statement from Crozer Health, these service suspensions will allow for the temporary reallocation of staff from these departments to other areas in the health system in need of additional resources. All of our healthcare workers have been hit hard by COVID, our hospitals are at full capacity, and staffing shortages are urgent. I deeply hope that these closures are indeed only temporary and will be following this issue carefully. More info here. Read more