CHESTER, Pa.—As Prospect Medical Holdings files for bankruptcy, the town of Chester, Pa., stands to lose a critical pillar of the community in Crozer Chester Medical Center. The financial woes that plague the holding company have created instability for the local hospital over the past year. In early February, after much deliberation, the state allocated $20 million to Prospect to be used to keep hospital doors open for the next month as a long-term survival strategy was developed.
One of the difficult road blocks for that deal, however, is the company’s history of financial greed and recklessness. Said history includes mismanagement of funds leading to cuts to affordable and accessible healthcare services critical to the Delaware County community.
In fact, former Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry sued the company over this very issue. In her October 2024 complaint, she said, “We are taking legal action against a company which agreed to prioritize affordable, accessible healthcare—but instead broke their promise with years of neglectful, self-serving practices that have put lives at risk.”
Henry continued: “We had no choice but to file suit, as Prospect Medical’s conduct will almost certainly result in future closures that will force patients to travel distances for emergency care.”
This past week, the Foundation for Delaware County, a nonprofit formed after Prospect originally bought Crozer in 2016, committed more funding to keeping the hospital afloat as the $20 million allocation from February begins to run out.
However, many community leaders and politicians are unsatisfied with the move. State Sen. John Kane urged the current Pennsylvania Attorney General and Delaware County District Attorney to press criminal charges against the company for its continued negligence and profit-hungry behavior.
The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), a Pennsylvania-based healthcare worker union, echoed the call for criminal charges to be pursued.
The closure of the hospital puts over 3,000 jobs at risk, another layer of possible devastation for the community. PASNAP represents the nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, and other professionals at that location, meaning staying silent on the matter was not an option for the union.
On March 11, at a press conference in front of the hospital, Kate Denny, president of Crozer Chester Paramedics Association, a PASNAP affiliate, said: “This isn’t just about job loss, it’s about human lives…it’s about that child who needs emergency care but has to travel miles further, it’s about that pregnant mother who has nowhere to birth her baby.”
Denny added: “Prospect took over our hospitals with promises of investment and better care, instead they gutted them, drained the funds…and then they have the nerve to ask for money from our foundations and government to clean up their mess while they walk away with their profits. Disgusting. We say no more!”
The undisclosed sum of money that the foundation fronted only covers the cost of payroll for two weeks. Uncertainty about the future of the hospital remains, as the company’s next hearing in bankruptcy court is scheduled for March 26. The current instability has already put added strain on other hospital systems in the area, such as Mainline Health, however, as patients seek healthcare alternatives.
“People in the community rely on this,” said one patient, Daniel Slegel.
What is clear is that the Delaware County community and its ally in PASNAP are on the same page about the situation: The hospital must stay open, and Prospect Medical Holdings must be held accountable for putting profits over patients.
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