CHESTER, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Primary care could return to the former Crozer-Chester Medical Center facility within nine months, according to Chariot Allaire, the for-profit group that bought the campus earlier this year.
During a town hall at Widener University Tuesday night, Chariot Allaire CEO Yoel Polack told the crowd of about 200 people that the company is engaging with a few major academic medical systems in the area, though he didn’t get into specifics.
He did say that with financial support from the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, primary care operations at Crozer-Chester could resume by early next year.
Chariot Allaire bought the facility in January. The hospital was shuttered almost a year ago, along with Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, after owner Prospect Medical Holdings filed for bankruptcy.
To avoid those same financial pitfalls, Polack said Chariot Allaire would downsize parts of the massive facility to increase efficiency. He also said it would focus more on outpatient treatment and devote less space to inpatient services, something Delco resident Jamie Blair was skeptical about.
“If we don’t have proper community service, proper home care, et cetera, that would actually be taking care of people for these outpatient services, then folks are actually more likely to head back into the hospital,” she said.
Jeanette Murdock said every day without a hospital nearby, people in and near Chester are suffering.
“It’s very difficult if you don’t have a hospital to go to and you’ve got to go way across that way. And who’s to say you’re going to make it?” she said.
Zulene Mayfield, chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, said getting health care back to the community and engaging with residents is a good start.
“It’s very rare when people are making decisions that they offer to even include us in a productive way,” she said.
She hopes Chariot Allaire will hire the health care workers who were laid off because of the closures.
“These people who lost their jobs have priceless years of experience with this community and in health care,” she added.
Chariot Allaire said there will be more town halls in the future.
About 200 people attended a town hall about the fate of the shuttered hospital
About 200 people attended a town hall about the fate of the shuttered hospital
