PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A mother rushed her baby to the nearest hospital, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, on Thursday, only to realize it had closed earlier this month.
She said her baby wasn’t breathing. Fortunately, when she got there, multiple doctors, nurses and medics were already on site and able to save the child’s life.
They were attending Gov. Josh Shapiro’s news conference outside the hospital, where he announced a bill that would protect health care networks from private equity companies in Pennsylvania.
Lawmakers in Harrisburg are considering the Health System Protection Act, which would allow the state attorney general to block or place conditions on the sale of health facilities to for-profit companies. Prospect Medical Holdings purchased Crozer Health but later shut down dozens of medical practices and four of its hospitals in Delaware County, the most recent being Crozer-Chester and Taylor Hospital earlier this month.
The closures left thousands of people out of work and no emergency services for residents in the immediate area. Only two hospitals remain in Delaware County: Mercy Fitzgerald in Darby and Riddle in Media.
“Not one child should ever die because those [bastards] closed our hospital,” said Peggy Malone, president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association. “They never cared about the people in this community, but we do, and this is why we’ve been fighting so hard. Somebody has to open our ER now.”
Shapiro said the legislation would prevent what happened to Crozer from happening again.