Delaware County in 'emergency response situation' as Crozer Health threatens more closures
UPLAND, Pa. - Very important and, for some, life-saving services will soon be ending in Delaware County and it has prompted many residents to voice their concerns. Delaware County officials are calling it a crisis.
In recent weeks, the largest healthcare provider, Crozer Health, announced a series of temporary and permanent closures of services, unless it receives $24 million.
"It’s been my life, my career, my family," stated nurse Angela Neopolitano. Almost 42 years as a nurse with Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Neopolitano says it’s more than a job.
That’s why she’s devastated to see what’s happening to a hospital that serves one of the largest municipalities in the state for almost a century.
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"In my heart, I hope we’re not closing, but in my head, I don’t believe that they say we’re not," Neopolitano remarked.
Crozer Health announced more impending closures at DCMH and its three county hospitals, if they do not receive some $24 million from the county in 90 days, citing ongoing impacts from COVID-19.
Crozer’s for-profit owner, Prospect Medical Holdings, Incorporated, in California, is in talks of selling the system to non-profit ChristianaCare Health System.
The closures include substance abuse and addiction services at DCMH and Crozer-Chester Medical Center starting in June, along with crisis services, according to a notice sent to staff.
A Delaware County official says Crozer also threatened to terminate ambulance services, known as the Chase Car, to the county’s lowest-income municipalities.
It follows a slew of closures already in effect, including the maternity ward, ICU and surgery unit at DCMH, the inpatient hospice unit at Taylor Hospital and the ER at Springfield Hospital.
"We’re still seeing people come into our emergency room that are in labor. We have to get an ambulance and send them to another hospital," Neopolitano said. "Minutes are lives."
"We need Crozer/Prospect to come forward with a good faith effort to keep things running, not just try to extort us for as much money as they possibly can," Pa. State Representative Mike Zabel stated. "It’s time for us to really consider whether healthcare should be a for-profit enterprise at all."
A week after Delaware County Council approved an emergency ordinance requiring a 180-day notice to the county of any decision to close an entire unit of a hospital, officials said Friday they are in daily contact with Crozer trying to achieve a solution.
Zabel says they can’t afford to lose a hospital. "We’ve got to keep these things open, because once you shut things down, health systems, health services, it’s really difficult to get it up and running again."