PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Tower Health will officially close Brandywine Hospital by the end of Monday, one month after the health care provider closed Jennersville Hospital.
A task force led by the Alliance for Health Equity is focusing on possible short- and long-term solutions.
The closure of the two hospitals has immediate effects on residents, like longer ambulance response times and farther drives for emergency care. Alliance President and CEO Vanessa Briggs said it’s also having ripple effects on other hospitals.
“The immediate need is how can we sort of help support these other hospitals like Chester County, like Paoli Hospital, [which are] graciously trying to address the increased patient volume that we’re starting to see as a result of the hospital closures,” she said.
In the short term, the county has created a website with patient resources regarding the closures.
Down the road, Briggs said they need to re-imagine and re-design the health care model, where, as she put it, health care is an ecosystem.
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“How do we build up a broader ecosystem where the hospital is a component, but there are also pieces to that ecosystem that are embedded and co-located in the community?” she asked.
Brandywine Hospital has a 64-bed in-patient behavioral health unit. Briggs said many of those people will end up in emergency rooms, which often aren’t equipped to handle them.
Last month, Tower Health said its deal with Canyon Atlantic Partners to buy the hospitals fell through. Tower Health said in a statement that despite the sale agreement, Canyon had “not demonstrated the necessary regulatory and operational preparedness, nor validated its financial ability, to complete this transaction and operate these hospitals.” Officials added that “no viable options” remained.