Delco’s state lawmakers want Pa. AG to claw back $40M from Prospect, take other action
They also want standby ambulance services at Crozer-Chester for a longer period and a criminal investigation into Prospect’s current and former owners.
Delaware County’s delegation of state lawmakers want Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday to petition the bankruptcy judge overseeing Prospect Medical Holdings’ cases for the return of $40 million used to keep Crozer open until last week.
The lawmakers also want U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan to require the for-profit company based in California to pay for standby ambulance services at Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s emergency department. Those ambulances would transport patients who show up after the hospital is fully closed to the next closest options.
They want this service to continue for 16 weeks after the closure, for which the final date has not yet been set, rather than the 7 to 10 days proposed by Prospect, according to a letter obtained by The Inquirer.
» READ MORE: Crozer Health’s closure begins with emergency departments off-limits to ambulances
The undated letter said that 155 people went to the ED at Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill and needed an ambulance to take them to an open facility in the year after Prospect closed that hospital in November 2022.
“Given the high patient volume at Crozer-Chester, we believe Prospect should be required to pay for this expense as part of the $20-$30M they have told the judge they budgeted for the closure process,” the letter signed by 16 lawmakers said.
Prospect did not respond to a request for comment.
Half the money sought by the lawmakers came from Delaware County for behavioral health services and from the state Medicaid program. A bankruptcy attorney for Prospect has said repeatedly in court that the $20 million from the state and the county was owed to Crozer.
However, the county has contended that Prospect had not billed properly for the behavioral health crisis services provided, which is why the county had not paid the $9.8 million earlier.
Of the state’s $10.2 million total, $9.3 million was an advance payment of supplemental Medicaid payments that go to hospitals that care for a large number of low-income patients. That money normally would be paid out close to the end of the state’s fiscal year in June.
The rest of the $40 million came from the Foundation for Delaware County, an independent nonprofit whose mission is to support the health and well-being of county residents. A big chunk of its money came from the sale of the nonprofit Crozer Keystone Health System to Prospect in 2016.
It’s not at all clear that the judge would be receptive to the return of the foundation money, nor that the AG would ask for its return. During hearings, the judge and representatives of the AG’s office joined in pressuring the foundation to pay the money.
Finally, the lawmakers want the AG to open a criminal investigation into Prospect’s current and former owners.
“Given the reports from staff of systemic disinvestment in the infrastructure during the nine years that Prospect owned the Crozer Health system, we implore you to leave no stone unturned in holding them accountable,” the letter said.