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Delco-based Crozer Health CEO departs as the hospital industry struggles with omicron fallout

The change in leaders comes at a tumultuous for Crozer, which was battered by staff shortages and high numbers of COVID-19 patients during the January omicron surge.

On Jan. 13 a signed warned visitors that Springfield Hospital's emergency department was closed.
On Jan. 13 a signed warned visitors that Springfield Hospital's emergency department was closed.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. has named a new chief executive for Crozer Health, which operates four Delaware County hospitals that have been hit particularly hard by staff shortages and throngs of patients during the omicron surge.

Prospect executive Kevin Spiegel immediately replaced Peter Adamo, who had been Crozer’s CEO for two years, according to an internal human resources memo. Adamo’s last day at Crozer will be Feb. 11. An announcement of the change was distributed Tuesday.

Prospect, a for-profit company based in Los Angeles, put Crozer and other hospitals it owns on the East Coast up for sale in October. Prospect has owned Crozer since 2016, acquiring what was then a nonprofit in a transaction valued at $300 million, mostly for assumed liabilities.

It’s not clear whether the leadership change holds implications for the potential sale of Crozer, which includes Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Springfield Hospital in Springfield, and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park.

Details on Crozer’s financial performance are not public, but there are signs that Crozer has struggled financially. That’s not surprising, given that even financially strong systems such as Main Line Health are losing money in part because of high staffing costs. Industry sources said Crozer has about $700 million in annual revenue.

» READ MORE: Main Line Health pauses elective surgeries and procedures amid a surge in COVID-19 cases

Last month, Crozer closed the maternity unit at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, consolidating those services at Crozer-Chester. Crozer’s website says that the company “has temporarily suspended all hospital-based services at the Springfield Hospital.”

Spiegel, the executive taking over at Crozer during an extraordinarily difficult time for health systems, joined Prospect as senior vice president of strategy and revenue development in March 2020. Before that, Spiegel was CEO of Erlanger Health System, a seven-hospital system in Chattanooga, Tenn., for six years.