State Rep. Craig Williams is throwing a Hail Mary pass with a bill to provide funding to entice a buyer for the mothballed Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland.
Williams (R-Delaware/Chester) wants to use $200 million in unspent funds from last year’s budget to create a Hospital Acquisition Assistance Fund to be overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).
“This is about moving from oversight to action,” said Williams. “We passed legislation earlier this month to give the attorney general review authority over future private equity acquisitions, but that will not reopen Crozer or restore emergency care access for the families in my district. This proposal is about reopening the doors and helping the community recover.”
Williams has two pathways to pursue to create this fund. One is through an amendment to the 2025 budget bill currently under consideration, and the other is a separate piece of legislation.
Under the plan, DCED would decide how much money goes to aiding hospitals in need. While the funds would be available for other hospitals, Williams made it clear his goal is to get Crozer open once again.
“I have more senior living communities in my district than any other district in the commonwealth,” said Williams. “I have a lot of seniors who relied only on that hospital, but the clinics that were in the hospital system.” While ChristianaCare has acquired the clinics and is going to reopen them this summer, the residents also need a nearby hospital and emergency room, he said.
“We need to get it open, and I’ve seen no other proposal that puts the state’s resources to bear in trying to get some of these hospitals open.”
Crozer, along with Taylor Hospital, closed as part of the fallout from the bankruptcy of its owner, Prospect Medical Holdings. Potential buyers, which included a consortium of Penn Medicine and Delaware County, fell through.
The state Attorney General’s Office blamed Prospect’s owners, Leonard Green and Partners, for the closure. The private equity firm was accused of prioritizing “their own wealth over the well-being of a community.”
Democrats in the Delaware County legislative delegation, led by Swarthmore state Sen. Tim Kearney and Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton, called the closure of the Crozer Health System “a devastating and disgraceful blow to our communities.”
In May, Gov. Josh Shapiro came to Delaware County and used the closed facility as a backdrop to propose bills to prevent private equity firms like Prospect from owning Pennsylvania hospitals. In addition to Crozer and Taylor, Prospect had also closed Delaware County Memorial Hospital and Springfield Hospital.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-Newtown Square) to address concerns raised by the closures recently passed the House. Her legislation would grant the state attorney general the power to review mergers, acquisitions and other major financial transactions involving health systems; prohibit sale-leasebacks by private equity firms and require detailed financial interest disclosures.
“I have said from the beginning that we cannot allow private equity firms to raid our hospitals, drain resources and walk away without consequences. At the same time, we must do the hard work of finding a path to reopening. This proposal begins that work,” Williams added.
Williams said recently on the House floor that bill, which gives the Attorney General some supervision over hospital acquisitions, is helpful, but it will not reopen hospitals in Delaware or Chester counties. These measures would.
