DREXEL HILL, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The emergency department at Delaware County Memorial Hospital closed Monday morning. The state suspended ER services due to staffing shortages.
While outpatient services are still being offered, new patients can no longer be admitted.
“The department continues to actively monitor the situation at Delaware County Memorial Hospital to ensure patient safety is prioritized,” the Pennsylvania Department of Health said in a statement. “Patients who would have gone to Delaware County Memorial Hospital are urged to go the next closest hospital for treatment and to call 911 in an emergency.”
Delaware County officials blame the hospital’s parent company, Prospect, and said they plan to explore legal options to keep the hospital running normally.
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“Prospect’s recent history, including its September 21 announcement of its intention to close DCMH within 60 days, shows a gross lack of concern for the well-being of Delaware County residents,” Delaware County Council said in a statement.
“All of our hospital systems have struggled to maintain staffing, but they've all found a way to do so,” said Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor on Monday night.
“There are resources to put staffing in here, to make sure they're up to the right numbers, and they have not done so … and now you see we're in the situation where the hospital had to temporarily close.”
Prospect’s plan was to turn the hospital into a 100-plus-bed behavioral health facility that would offer crisis care, rehabilitation and inpatient acute psychiatric care.
Tony Esposito, CEO of Crozer Health, which is under the Prospect umbrella, said allegations that they understaffed the hospital on purpose are not true.
“It’s a shame that we have to politicize health care,” he said. “We have over 600 vacancies within our health system, with every facility, so we are trying hard like everybody else in health care to fill these vacancies.”
The Foundation for Delaware County, along with county officials, argue Prospect is breaking a promise it made when it purchased Crozer Health that the hospital would not be able to close without permission until 2026.
“There are wonderful people who have been working here for years. Wonderful people who still work in this health system. But the owner has not proven to be a trusted community partner,” said Frances Sheehan, the foundation president. The foundation was formed when Prospect acquired Crozer-Keystone in 2016.
A judge, however, issued an injunction last month that paused the building’s transformation until the company and county could get on the same page.
The county has been concerned that suspending the ER and other critical services at this location would take away a critical option for people who live nearby and cause other hospitals in the area to get inundated with patients.
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Esposito said they have a month to try to get staffing levels up and reopen the emergency department.
While the hospital is no longer accepting new admissions, officials say there are five patients who are still receiving inpatient care. They will stay for as long as needed and will be discharged when it is safe to do so.