PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The future of two Delaware County hospitals is still up in the air, after Tuesday’s postponed bankruptcy hearing. Hospital workers, however, hold out hope that things will end in their favor.
Judge Stacey Jernigan moved the court date to April 3 after lawyers for Prospect Medical Holdings did not have an agreement to sell off their assets, which include Crozer Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital.
A lawyer for Delaware County told Jenigan in a hearing last week, in Texas federal court, that meeting the original April 1 deadline would be a challenge because the terms Prospect Medical Holdings asked for had caught the county off guard. But a lawyer for Prospect said the talks were headed in the right direction.
“We still remain very positive. We remain optimistic that the right decision is going to be made,” said Kate Denney, president of Crozer Chester Paramedics Association.
She believes the judge’s willingness to allow the proceedings to continue is a ray of light signaling a deal to sell will soon be in place, even though she doesn't know who’ll purchase them. “There’s something new coming at me everyday,” she said. “Certainly we take it with a grain of salt until we actually get confirmed this is who it is.”
Penn Medicine says it has advocated for a consortium of nonprofit hospitals and foundations, as well as county and state officials.
Thanks to a multimillion-dollar contribution, Denney says, staffers aren’t too worried about operating costs and keeping their doors open until that sale is made. Still, she asks the community for support and to stay vigilant.
“Speak up and say how important it is that the hospital system as well as the EMS base system remains in the county,” she urged, adding that effects will be felt across the county if the hospitals are forced to close.
“It is my biggest fear that this doesn’t work out and everything is dissolved, and in that case lives are going to be at stake,” she said. “People are going to die if this doesn't go the way it needs to go.”
KYW Newsradio’s Conner Barkon contributed to this story.