Pennsylvania Hospitals Like Crozer-Chester, Heavily Reliant on Medicaid, Are Closing. Budget Cuts Could Accelerate the Trend.

The closure of Crozer-Chester Medical Center was significant enough for the Governor of Pennsylvania to make an appearance and criticize what he termed as a healthcare emergency. However, this bankruptcy represents just the most recent development in a concerning pattern; over the past ten years, more than half of the adult hospitals in Southeastern Pennsylvania that receive major portions of their income from the Medicaid program have either shut down entirely or significantly reduced operations.

Of the 10 hospitals most dependent on the government initiative for low-income citizens, four have closed their doors. The most recent one mentioned is Crozer-Chester Medical Center located in Upland. This month, the area additionally saw the closure of Delaware County Memorial in Drexel Hill during 2022 and two Philadelphia hospitals: Hahnemann closed in 2019 and St. Joseph’s in 2016.

The ones on the list which have seen significant reductions in their scale are the previously mentioned. Mercy Hospital located in West Philadelphia And the suburban community in East Norriton. This ranking utilizes data from 2015 provided by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

The hospitals that heavily depend on low-income patients might face an even more challenging situation if Congress proceeds with their plan to cut hundreds of billions of dollars by making it more difficult for individuals to remain enrolled in the Medicaid program.

“You’re exacerbating the healthcare crisis That’s developing within our state," Shapiro stated on Thursday during a press briefing held near the closed Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where he urged federal legislators to carefully weigh the implications of the proposal.

Targeting private equity

The primary aim of Thursday's gathering was to endorse bills proposed earlier in the week. These bills mandate that the Pennsylvania attorney general must examine additional healthcare deals and prohibit those found not to be in the public's best interests.

The primary sponsor of the Senate version of the proposed bill is Democratic Senator Timothy Kearney from Delaware County. During a hearing held on May 7, he addressed the topic. hospital shutdowns and wider economic troubles In the healthcare industry, Kearney pointed out that private equity firms — primarily managing investments for pension funds and various institutions — are not the sole issue.

The vultures from Wall Street represent a bigger problem within the healthcare industry, which is essentially fiscal starvation," Kearney stated. "Hospitals end up struggling financially as reimbursement rates fail to match the costs of providing care, leading them to delay necessary investments for their survival.

According to Nicole Stallings, CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania—a lobbying organization—Medicaid typically covers around 82% of the expense related to hospital care.

The hospitals that continue to operate with significant reliance on Medicaid funds

In 2015, among the 10 hospitals in the region most reliant on Medicaid funding was Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia. In a 2020 antitrust case concerning Thomas Jefferson University's agreement to take it over, representatives from Einstein stated that they lacked the financial means to enhance their facilities sufficiently for them to compete effectively against more well-endowed medical centers. The acquisition by Jefferson concluded in 2021.

Jefferson has subsequently shut down the emergency department at the previous Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park, operating under the license of Einstein Philadelphia. This location is currently being utilized by Jefferson’s MossRehab.

Hospitals that stay completely operational without changing their owners among those dependent on Medicaid include Temple University Hospital located in Philadelphia, along with two facilities owned by Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic: Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital situated in Darby and Nazareth Hospital found in Philadelphia.

The temple gets considerable financial support from the government. to assist it in covering its losses From Medicaid recipients and those without insurance.

The country's biggest Catholic healthcare network oversees the Trinity hospitals, providing extensive support from their parent organization. Despite these robust resources, recent service consolidations have been implemented across several of their facilities near Philadelphia. As part of this restructuring, Nazareth Hospital now ceases all surgical procedures during late-night hours, as revealed in an internal memo seen by The Inquirer. This change could imply rerouting urgent cases to different locations; however, Trinity representatives did not validate this information when approached.

Hospital downsizings

In 2020, Trinity revealed the shutting down of Mercy Philadelphia located in West Philadelphia. Certain services such as the emergency department continued operations thanks to a collaboration involving the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Public Health Management Corp., Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and additional entities.

This month, California-based Prime Healthcare declared that it plans to shut down the emergency department. downsize Suburban Community Hospital In East Norristown at a 15-bed geriatric psychiatric facility. The hospital had previously reduced its number of staffed beds to 60 from over 120.

The total number of hospital campuses that shut down over the past ten years exceeds The Inquirer’s tally of complete closures because certain health care systems had several facilities operating under one license. Crozer-Chester held licenses for both Taylor Hospital and Springfield Hospital, all of which ceased operations. Information regarding Medicaid dependence at Taylor and Springfield was unfortunately unavailable.

More work for politicians

Prior to her political career, Lisa Borowski, a Democrat from Delaware County, dedicated several years to working for the now-renamed Mercy Health System of Southeastern Pennsylvania (currently known as Trinity Mid-Atlantic) and Einstein—both institutions significantly dependent on Medicaid funding. As a current member of the state House of Representatives, Borowski has taken up the role of primary sponsor for the legislation aimed at curbing activities by private equity firms within this sector.

"I'm well acquainted with the difficulties these hospitals encounter regarding their financial health," she responded via email to The Inquirer’s inquiries, noting additionally that boosting Medicaid reimbursements is another concern lawmakers need to address.

"The solution cannot be to allow malicious individuals to plunder our hospitals, take their worth, and depart, leaving others to clean up the mess as we've experienced in Delaware County," she stated.

©2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.