The Pennsylvania Division of Well being has ordered a closure of the emergency division at Delaware County Memorial Hospital beginning Monday morning due to a scarcity of staffing, however county officers mentioned Friday evening that they’re exploring authorized choices to maintain it open.
The suspension of emergency division providers on the hospital in Higher Darby beginning at 7 a.m. Monday doesn’t affect any outpatient providers the hospital is providing, the state Well being Division mentioned in an e mail late Friday.
“The [Pa.] division continues to actively monitor the scenario at Delaware County Memorial Hospital to make sure affected person security is prioritized. Sufferers who would have gone to Delaware County Memorial Hospital are urged to go the following closest hospital for remedy and to name 9-1-1 in an emergency,” the state Well being Division mentioned.
In an announcement, Delaware County officers blamed the reported lack of staffing on Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., the proprietor of Crozer Well being, which runs the hospital.
”Prospect’s latest historical past, together with its September 21 announcement of its intention to shut DCMH inside 60 days, exhibits a gross lack of concern for the well-being of Delaware County residents,” the county mentioned in its assertion.
In mid-October, a Frequent Pleas Courtroom decide ordered Crozer Well being and Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. to halt efforts to shut the hospital and switch it right into a behavioral well being facility.
The ruling adopted a listening to on Basis for Delaware County’s petition for an emergency preliminary injunction that may block Crozer’s plans to eradicate the emergency division and the few remaining acute-care providers on the hospital in Higher Darby.
The inspiration represents the pursuits of the previous nonprofit proprietor of the Crozer-Keystone Well being System, which Los Angeles-based Prospect acquired in 2016 for $300 million, most of which went to repay liabilities. In the end, the muse collected $55 million from the sale.
Crozer filed a layoff discover with the Pennsylvania Division of Labor with a closure date of Nov. 26, saying it might eradicate the roles of 258 union staff plus these of 76 others. Crozer mentioned the entire impacted staff would be capable to get jobs elsewhere at Crozer.