ChristianaCare wins bankruptcy auction to take over Crozer Health outpatient locations
After a lengthy and drawn-out bankruptcy auction process, ChristianaCare will acquire five former Crozer Health outpatient locations in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, some of which had remained open despite the health network's closure.
ChristianaCare announced Wednesday it was the successful bidder to take over California-based Prospect Medical Holdings' remaining health campuses in Broomall, Havertown, two in Glen Mills, and Media. The health care company's winning bid was for $50.3 million.
"As we work to meet the needs of our Delaware County neighbors, we are glad that ChristianaCare is able to take on these outpatient centers and provide stability and continuity of access to care for patients," ChristianaCare president Janice Nevin said in a statement.
The locations are ChristianaCare will take over are:
- 300 Evergreen Drive in Glen Mills
- 500 Evergreen Drive in Glen Mills
- 2010 West Chester Pike in Havertown
- 30 Lawrence Road in Broomall
- 200 E. State Street in Media
"These facilities will complement the new campuses and neighborhood hospitals we are building in southeastern Pennsylvania — and together they will significantly expand our network of care," Jennifer Schwartz, ChristianaCare's chief strategy and legal officer, said.
The facilities to be acquired by ChristianaCare were separated from the Crozer Health closure process because they're profitable, sources say.
The agreement must be approved by the bankruptcy judge in Dallas, Texas, before the sale can close, which ChristianaCare claims is expected in the near future.
ChristianaCare's winning bid comes amid widespread confusion in Delaware County over which doctors' offices are still open after Prospect closed Crozer Health earlier this month.
Cloud of confusion hangs in air after Crozer Health closure
There are small, isolated parts of the Crozer Health system that survived the widespread closures because they're independently owned businesses operating out of buildings not owned by Prospect. But a cloud of confusion hangs in the air.
"I love all of ya. But I love him the best," Viola Kilson said, surrounded by a group of doctors.
Make no mistake, Kilson is grateful some of her doctors are still in practice. At 104 years old, she was among Crozer Health's most senior patients. She was blunt in her assessment of the system's collapse and financial ruin.
"Catastrophe," she said. "I've been here since my family came from South Carolina in 1931."
Earlier this month, CBS News Philadelphia met with Kilson at her ophthalmologist's office. They're still open in a post-Crozer world. That's because the building, adjacent to the shuttered Crozer Chester Medical Center, is not owned by its parent company, Prospect.
The doctors, who were formerly affiliated with Crozer, are independent of any system.
Prospect, the bankrupt private equity firm, closed two hospitals and scores of other medical offices last month.
"Our building is adjacent to Crozer, but it is completely independent," Dr. John Witherell, an ophthalmologist, said. "We're able to function without Crozer. We will continue to function without Crozer."
Witherell and Dr. Christopher Williams say the last few weeks have been terribly confusing. Their staff ramped up what feels like its own marketing agency, alerting patients they're still open, despite living in the shadow of a closed medical center.
"To hear every fourth patient ask, 'Are you closing, are you shutting down, are you leaving us?' That's heartbreaking," Williams said.
Other doctors, part of a cardiology practice, say people also assumed they were included in the widespread closures. They say their practice in Upland and Chester is vital.
"A lot of our patients, this is walking distance, walking distance," Dr. John Godfrey of Cardiology Consultants of Philadelphia said.
Impacts of Crozer Health closure are still felt in Delco
CBS News Philadelphia has been investigating the impact of the Crozer Health shutdown. Former Crozer patients have told us they've spent hours trying to find new doctors. Some can't get appointments until next year.
Kilson has yet to set up a new doctor.
"It's really tough," she said. "I feel for the people younger than me. You just have to get on the phone, and my insurance was nice enough to send me two names."
These doctors say there was no roadmap on how to manage what has become a medical crisis in Delaware County.
"Today, to see the doors closed to the hospital and employees laid off, it's devastating emotionally and psychologically that this could all disappear," Williams said.
"Just the overall disappointment as to where we were and where we are now and how it came to be that way," Witherell said. "I think it's sad. An entire health care system could implode."
But these medical professionals are staying behind, and that's some comfort to Kilson, who is heartbroken about what happened to Crozer.
"Crozer is like home," she said. "It feels like home. And you're losing your home when you lose Crozer Hospital."
Prospect attorneys and a spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
