Even if Chester Crozer and Taylor hospitals manage to secure long-term funding to stay open, it will happen without Crozer Health CEO Tony Esposito at the helm.
Esposito will leave the health system on Friday, following five and a half years on the job. He oversaw a Crozer Health system whose regional impact in Delaware County rapidly declined, marked by the closure of two hospitals and the bankruptcy of parent company Prospect Medical Holdings.
Greg Williams, Prospect’s East Coast operations president, will take over on an interim basis.
In an email to Crozer Health employees on Monday, Esposito expressed confidence in Williams’s ability to keep everyone focused while bankruptcy proceedings continue.
“We remain in active discussions with the Pennsylvania attorney general and other parties to find a sustainable path forward to allow Crozer Health to continue to operate and provide our patients with the critical care they require,” wrote Esposito.
Meanwhile, potential disaster looms for Chester Crozer and Taylor hospitals.
Prospect’s debtors, along with a hospital financial receiver and representatives from Pennsylvania and Delaware County, have been trying for months to find a buyer. Attorneys and a federal bankruptcy judge expressed confidence multiple times over the past two months that a buyer would be found, only to have deals fall apart during negotiations.
CBS News Philadelphia reported Tuesday that some employees are receiving layoff notices.
It’s believed Penn Medicine and Delaware County are part of a consortium looking to buy the hospitals. Melissa Van Eck of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said earlier this month she wanted people to “buy in” on the receiver’s plan for the facilities.
It was announced last week the hospitals had secured another six to 10 days of funding after Penn Medicine bought office equipment and took over two leases. That raised $6 million. Another $1 million was donated by Delaware County as an advance on behavioral health services.
In the interim, Crozer Health and Prospect will start making changes to hospital services. That includes winding down OB-GYN services at Chester Crozer. The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals (PASNAP) claims the Home Care/Hospice Unit at Taylor Hospital will close by mid-June, depending on patient needs.
The attorney for Prospect’s debtors promised to work with a patient care ombudsman (PCO) on all service changes. William Curtin told a federal bankruptcy judge last week the service changes were inevitable, regardless of whether a buyer is found.
“It’s far from the worst choice,” he said, comparing it to using a scalpel versus a hatchet to make cuts.
PASNAP reps remain angry at Prospect. It accused Prospect of using Delaware County as a “personal piggy bank” to enrich investors and destroy healthcare.
“The patient lives (put) at stake and the caregiver jobs lost all lie at Prospect’s feet,” said a PASNAP representative.
