Prospect Medical Holdings Closing Crozer Medical Health System

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — The group running Crozer Medical Health System has started the process to close the healthcare system in Delaware County, and elected officials are calling it a "brazen attack on healthcare access in Southeastern Pennsylvania."

Prospect Medical Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy in January, plans to close the Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital by March 14, saying in court it cannot pay to keep it open.

The Delaware County Council Thursday said FTI Consulting, Inc., which was appointed the receiver appointed through bankruptcy proceedings, is managing "deteriorating financial conditions on behalf of the troubled healthcare provider."

As the news broke Thursday, officials spoke out against the decision.

"This isn’t just about stripping away 400 hospital beds, denying 25,000 hospital admissions, and abandoning over 75,000 emergency room patients in Delaware County—it’s a full-blown crisis that endangers emergency services along the I-95 corridor, guts maternal healthcare, and piles even more pressure onto already overburdened hospitals," a statement from the Delaware County Legislative Delegation says.

According to the delegation, Prospect's board of directors this week voted to close Crozer Health despite many efforts to salvage the hospital system.

The system was given a $20 million "lifeline" by Delaware County and the state, but officials said there is "no external healthcare entity or group of entities capable of absorbing the crushing debt, staggering liabilities, and operating deficit that Prospect recklessly drove Crozer into."

In October 2024, former Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry filed a civil lawsuit against Prospect Medical Holdings, accusing the group of "looting" Crozer Health System to the benefit of shareholders and neglecting the hospital system, its patients, and its staff since 2016.

"Crozer has been around since the Civil War, was one of the largest employers in Delaware County, and served as a place of healing and hope for generations," the delegation's statement reads. "Now, because of financial mismanagement, it is no longer.

"We are furious for the thousands of nurses, doctors, and staff who stayed with Crozer for the sake of their patients, only for their sacrifices to be made in vain. We are heartbroken for the people in our community who depended on Crozer for emergency and routine medical care and now have nowhere to turn," the statement says.

The delegation's statement calls Crozer's "destruction" an example of the failings of the healthcare system in the United States.

"As Crozer’s collapse proves, privatization and for-profit healthcare are not the solution—they are the problem," the delegation said.

Delaware County Council Vice Chair Richard Womack said the closures are a "direct result of greed and incompetence from Prospect’s corrupt ownership group."

"It is infuriating to hear that Prospect has failed to keep their promises yet again to the residents of Delaware County, now that they’re done lining their own pockets at the expense of our communities," Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor said. "Our county government has spent months hard at work to prepare for the possibility that these hospitals would be closed. We remain committed to an orderly, calm, and comprehensive process to helping ensure patients are transferred to other facilities that can provide the care they need."

The county has launched a website to keep residents informed on the status of Prospect-owned hospitals, the bankruptcy status, and additional resources available to residents. Residents are also encouraged to use the Delaware County Health Department Wellness Line at 484-276-2100.

Additionally, resourced for impacted Crozer Health employees are available online here.

"For thousands of our friends and neighbors, going to work for years meant going to a Crozer facility and putting their time and talent into healing people and getting them back on their feet," County Council Member Elaine Paul Schaefer said. "We will do everything we can to help folks find their next role and get back to work building Delaware County’s future. Even with a bankrupt Prospect, we’re going to make sure our best days as a county are ahead of us."