PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Chester County judge is ordering Tower Health to restart the process of selling two hospitals that were shut down last year.
There was an agreement last year for Tower to sell Brandywine and Jennersville hospitals to Texas-based Canyon Atlantic Partners. Tower officials said the deal fell through. Jennersville closed in late December, with Brandywine closing at the end of January.
However, now Common Pleas Court Judge Edward Griffith has ruled that Tower actually interfered in the sale process and, because of that, had no right to back away from that deal.
The judge wrote that Tower caused “chaos,” which made it difficult for Canyon to get financing to buy the hospitals.
“We hope that we will be able to collaborate with Tower now to be able to bring about the proper transition of power for these hospitals so that they can be very much a part of the community, and we are asking for Tower's help as well," said attorney Benjamin Post, representing Canyon.
When Tower terminated the deal, it affected not only Canyon but the entire county, Griffith wrote. “The risk to public health if these hospitals permanently closed is substantial.”
He said not having these emergency rooms puts critically ill patients at risk and overwhelms other nearby hospitals.
Chester County Commissioners Chair Marian Moskowitz told KYW Newsradio that, with both hospitals closing, an ambulance would have to spend between 30 and 50 minutes one way to get to patients.
The judge ruled that Tower must maintain the hospitals as they are now, and has 90 days to come up with a way for the sale to go through.
Post said an appeal could slow the process, and he says it’s too early to try to sketch out a timeline.
Related
“Because the hospitals have closed, we don't know whether the equipment has been sold. We don't know if the MRI machines are gone, the CT scans are gone," said Post. Other questions involve relicensing and staffing at a time when medical staff is in short supply.
“With so little known as to what took place from the time the contract was stopped, which was on December 8 to now, as judge Griffiths order was yesterday, February 14. We just don't know exactly whether or not you know what exactly is there.”
Post said he is confident that Canyon can turn the struggling hospitals around.
County officials have been concerned about the strain the closures put on other hospitals and emergency services in the region.
Brandywine had 64 behavioral health beds that have closed at times when officials say mental health treatment is needed more than ever.
