Crozer Health doctors' offices, health centers closing in addition to hospitals, sources say
Friday is not only the end of the line for Crozer Health hospitals, but an unknown number of doctors' offices and health centers across Delaware County, Pennsylvania, will also shut down, sources and local officials tell CBS News Philadelphia.
The news has come as a shock to many who believed facilities in Glen Mills, Haverford, Broomall and Media had been spared, but officials said while bankruptcy auctions of those locations are still pending, they will be forced to close in the meantime.
While an unknown number of doctors' offices and outpatient facilities are closing, surgical centers at Haverford and Brinton Lake are still open.
"We're just sitting ducks at this point"
Malisha Eldridge says she and her colleagues at a Crozer Health complex in Media are working to close the practice. Most have received termination notices, despite believing they had been spared the chopping block. They expect to be gone in 60 days.
"We're just sitting ducks at this point," Eldridge said. "They don't tell us much of anything. We hear a lot of hearsay. But all of the other offices around us are definitely closing. So, I just think it's a matter of time for us."
CBS News Philadelphia has spoken to two dozen Crozer Health workers at doctors' offices across Delaware County. Nearly all of them are too shaken to speak on camera for fear they'll get in trouble and lose their unemployment. They say they've been inundated with calls from patients about whether they're staying open.
Kathy Zimmerman of Ridley Township said she was shocked to learn her family doctor was closing. She says a number of her family members are affected.
"My husband, my mom, my mom lost her gerontologist," Zimmerman said. "She had an appointment in May, and she called a new place and was told November. And she's 90."
Delaware County chair says Prospect "not communicating clearly"
The shutdown of dozens of health centers and doctors' offices was always a possibility, but it was never confirmed to be the case.
Delaware County Chair Dr. Monica Taylor said some of the larger facilities in Glen Mills, Haverford and Broomall will now close until Crozer Health's parent company, Prospect Medical Holdings, is out of the picture.
"Clearly, Prospect is not communicating clearly to anyone," Taylor said. "Our understanding is that all of them will close for a short amount of time."
Taylor said she was surprised to hear it all was closing.
"Prospect hasn't been close on communication," Taylor said, adding that the information changes regularly.
A New York public relations firm hired by Prospect did not respond to repeated requests for clarification.
Those Crozer workers tell CBS News Philadelphia they've told patients they're closed after today.
"I'm angry, but not at my doctor," Zimmerman said. "I'm angry at Prospect for what has happened. I'm upset. Very much upset. I think it's sad. Where are these people going to go?"
