Crozer-Chester Medical Center closes, marking end of Delaware County's largest hospital system
Crozer-Chester Medical Center closed its doors Friday, marking the end of Delaware County, Pennsylvania's largest health system. Crozer Health served Delco for generations, and its closure has caused sadness and anger in the community.
Crozer-Chester, located in Upland, shut its doors at 8 a.m. Friday. Hallways, patient rooms and operating rooms are now empty inside the hospital, as patients are now trying to figure out where to go to get care.
Crozer Health's closure signals end of era in Delaware County
The hospital's closure marks the end of Crozer Health in Delaware County. Last week, a federal bankruptcy judge authorized Prospect Medical Holdings' plan to close Crozer Health. Four days after the judge's ruling, Prospect closed Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park on April 26. Now, 10 days after the judge's ruling, the California-based company closed Crozer-Chester.
"This is the only hospital in this community. There's a lot of violence that does go on within the City of Chester, and where are these people supposed to go?" Renee Carter, a patient care technician at Crozer-Chester, said. "The elderly people. I have been coming to this hospital since I was a kid. I had both of my children here. It's just sad. There was a big car accident yesterday, and there was nowhere to take these people. Everything about this situation is sad. Prospect should be ashamed for doing this to such a good community, good workers."
Plans to save Crozer Health failed, leading to about 2,600 layoffs and just two hospitals — Riddle Hospital in Media and Mercy Fitzgerald in Darby — left to serve the county's 585,000 residents. Delaware County's delegation of state lawmakers has asked Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday to open a criminal investigation into Prospect.
For many, Crozer had been part of their families for generations
Erica Pasquarello, a nurse practitioner at Crozer-Chester, said working for the health system has been part of her family for years.
"I've had family that have been in this system for years," Pasquarello said."My pop-pop was a radiologist in '65, my mom was a nurse at Taylor, she's now a nurse practitioner at Brinton Lake. So it's sad, it's sad."
Pasquarello will have to find a new job now, but her unemployment is not at the top of her mind.
"The patients, I think, if anything, that's the devastating part. Saying goodbye to the last few I have on the schedule today," Pasquarello said. "And I just hope that someone is going to come through and help this community out. Because if anything, they're the ones that are going to suffer the most."
Sharon Knasiak spent 40 years at Chester-Crozer. The people at the hospital are like family to her. Some even are. Her daughter, Lizzie Brees, is a social worker at Crozer.
"I remember being so amazed and so proud of everything my mom did for this community," Brees said, "and so proud of everything my mom did for this community and for her job. It was the coolest. And that's why I got into working at the hospital too."
Crozer's closure leaves patients scrambling for care
With Crozer Health's closure, there's a lot of uncertainty for patients as they search for new health care services. While Knasiak, Brees and so many others are now looking for a job, patients like Karen Strickland Cochran are scrambling to find new doctors.
"My heart doctor is here, I have a problem with my lungs, I had COVID before, and when I had COVID, I came here," she said, adding she doesn't know where she's going to go now for health care."
VMSC Emergency Medical Services, a Montgomery County-based company, has agreed to provide ambulance service for parts of Delaware County, including the City of Chester, Springfield, Marcus Hook and Swarthmore.
Hundreds of employees gathered for a tailgate party in the parking lot of Crozer-Chester, reminiscing on the good times and mourning the loss of a vital community resource. It was a sea of mixed emotions as employees came together one last time to celebrate their careers and bid farewell.
"Some people live in Philly, Delaware," Carter said. "This might be our last time seeing each other."
Also happening Friday, Keystone First Wellness and Opportunity Center held an event to help former Crozer patients find new primary care physicians and medical specialists.
Former Taylor Hospital employees held a farewell tailgate of their own Thursday, exchanging hugs and enjoying snacks from food trucks.
The laid-off employees said they're committed to being optimistic.
"I just got together with the step-down unit nurses at Crozer, and we submitted our applications to Riddle," Renee Viscusi, a former registered nurse, said. "But you have 800 nurses looking for jobs, so it's a little nerve-wracking."
There are opportunities out there. VMSC EMS is planning to hire 50 people due to increased demand for their services. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is also hiring.
Amid the uncertainty, one thing is clear. People will miss the hospital and each other.
"I've been to other hospitals before I came here and never really had as much camaraderie as I felt here at Crozer," Dr. Nishan Kugan said. "I think that's the thing I'm going to remember the most."
