1 week Ago By Kenny Cooper
From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! Crozer Health will live to see another day — for now, thanks to a combined $6 million cash infusion from Penn Medicine and Delaware County. Parent company Prospect Medical Holdings retreated Thursday from shutting down Crozer Health, granting an unnamed consortium of buyers about a week to strike a deal to acquire the cash-strapped system .
News of the last-ditch funding “relieved” U.S. bankruptcy Judge Stacey G.
C. Jernigan of the Northern District of Texas. At Thursday afternoon’s hearing, she stopped short of a full blown celebration.
“You get to a point where you’ve got to move down the road and I guess you’d say that’s where we are,” Jernigan said. “We’re all keeping hope alive that we do get an asset purchase agreement during these days ahead but we at least have a game plan.” What is the ‘game plan’ to keep Crozer Health open during negotiations? Receiver FTI Consulting drafted the plan but details are unclear.
There will, however, be medical service changes at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital . “The parties have determined it is necessary to implement certain measures and transition select service lines in an effort to sustain broader operations,” a spokesperson for FTI said in a statement. Prospect did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an email obtained by WHYY News, Crozer CEO Tony Esposito told staff Thursday evening that the plan “will be executed by FTI in a methodical manner with no immediate or imminent changes.” “Throughout this process we’ve used the term that services may be transitioned and what’s going to happen is that employees may be wearing different jerseys — but they’ll still continue doing their job,” said Melissa Van Eck, of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, during Thursday’s hearing. “And I think it’s important for employees and patients in the community to hear that and know that they will continue to be supported.
” Crozer employs approximately 3,000 people. The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals represents nearly 900 of those employees. In a statement, the union said its primary concern is the “stability of the health care system in Delaware County.
” “Keeping frontline staff in the buildings and on the job is integral to that concern,” the associationPASNAP said. “The doors to the health system must not just stay open – the services the health system provides must persist and the staff must be there to serve the citizens of Delaware County when they are at their most vulnerable. We are eager for shared information on this aspect of FTI’s plan going forward.
” Prospect will begin closing Crozer Health if Pa. does not provide $9 million If another cash infusion doesn’t arrive by Wednesday, the hospital system could begin diverting ambulances and patients to other facilities as soon as Thursday morning. 2 days ago Who’s keeping the lights on at Crozer Health? Bankruptcy attorneys for the California-based company said Tuesday the hospitals needed at least $9 million in short-term funding in order to make payroll or else it would be forced to begin shutting them down as early as Thursday morning.
Prospect’s self-imposed deadline came and went as negotiations with government officials continued in recent days . Ultimately, the company procured another infusion of cash. Penn Medicine donated $5 million in exchange for some of Crozer’s medical offices.
Delaware County pitched in $1 million for mental health services rendered, according to Prospect’s attorney. “These grant funds are part of an overall funding package to allow the hospitals to remain open in the short-term, and do not come from property tax funds in Delaware County,” the county said in a statement. “Throughout this process, the county is continuing its approach of working for the best-case scenario of a long-term solution that keeps the hospitals open while preparing for a potential closure.
” A Penn Medicine spokesperson told WHYY News that the $5 million will go towards supporting Crozer operations and purchasing assets associated with Crozer’s outpatient facilities at Broomall and Brinton Lake. “This proposal would also include transfer of the leases for these privately owned facilities going forward,” the spokesperson said. “Though these efforts are in the early stages, we plan to ensure continued operations in these facilities, and over time, offer re-imagined, expanded services to improve the health of local residents.
” Prior to Thursday, $20 million in taxpayer money — $10.2 million from Pennsylvania and $9.8 million from Delaware County — was used to keep Crozer open.
The Foundation for Delaware County, which “tapped out” Tuesday from giving any more future funds, has given a total of $20 million . Van Eck said negotiations to lock down a sale agreement of Crozer are ongoing. “Funding is a challenge that we’ve been attempting to overcome,” she said.
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