Letters to the Editor | May 5, 2025

The editorial blasting Prospect Medical Holdings for bleeding Crozer-Chester Medical Center dry is correct as far as it goes, but I think it misses the bigger picture. Crozer was in trouble before it was purchased by Prospect. According to the Daily Local, the health system lost $32.9 million in 2014 and $8.4 million in 2015, and executives began seeking a buyer in 2014 after years of weak finances left it with insufficient capital reserves for long-term debt and pension liabilities. Prospect pulled the plug, but Crozer was already on life support. The underlying problem is poor reimbursement for struggling hospitals that serve the poor, and signals from Washington are not encouraging in this regard. We will, unfortunately, continue to see more closures in the future if nothing is done to provide the additional support needed to keep hospitals serving poor communities in operation.

Ron Fronduti, Media

Opportunity Zones have been a blessing for our nation, and the numbers show it. Investments have improved lives in more than 8,700 communities and lifted one million Americans out of poverty nationwide. Philadelphia is home to 82 Opportunity Zones, which help almost one in five of the city’s residents and account for roughly 200 revitalization projects. Many Philadelphians suffer from homelessness, but Opportunity Zones have helped distressed Americans find housing throughout President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.

In March, I had the privilege of seeing firsthand how these projects are benefiting Philadelphians when I toured One River Marina and the Battery — two Opportunity Zone developments that will bring new life to the city. For 40 years, the Battery and surrounding neighborhoods fell into disrepair. Opportunity Zones opened the neighborhoods up to $154 million in investments and transformed the forgotten industrial space into a thriving community on the Delaware River. Homeownership is a core part of the American dream, and the Trump administration has been working hard in the first 100 days to ensure all Americans can achieve that dream. At HUD, we’re excited to continue working diligently to make sure all Americans prosper under this new golden age.

Scott Turner, secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington

The passing of Richard Wernick closed a great chapter in the history of music in Philadelphia and beyond. Wernick was the last of the three preeminent composers — George Rochberg and George Crumb were the others — who were colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania. I had the privilege of attending classes taught by all three in the 1970s. For an undergraduate music major, it was quite a heady experience. Their compositional styles, aesthetic philosophies, and approaches to teaching were widely divergent. Yet, each of them made clear his debt to the music of the past while creating the music of the future.

Professor Wernick would gather us around him as he sat at the piano, playing and then explicating one of the classical masters, such as Mozart or Bach. At one point, we were deep in our analysis of a Bach prelude when a student asked about a figure Bach had unexpectedly introduced and that seemed to have nothing to do with what came before it. “Where did Bach come up with that?” she asked. Professor Wernick’s immediate reply: “From the center of the universe.”

David W. Webber, Philadelphia

I am an advocate for Catholic Relief Services, and as we celebrate workers on May 1, I am thinking of the many CRS staffers who have had to be cut due to loss of government funding. These are dedicated people who work, not for the big bucks, but to minister to the most vulnerable, often in hazardous conditions. Their rewards are the gratitude, trust, and, yes, smiles of those whom they serve. International assistance is not charity. It is a strategic investment impacting life, dignity, and global stability. I urge our senators, Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, as well as our representatives across the state, to oppose any rescissions of previously appropriated funds for lifesaving humanitarian and development assistance. Also, please maintain current levels of poverty-reducing international assistance in fiscal year 2026 appropriations. This current funding is half of 1% of the federal budget.

Catherine Poynton, Catholic Relief Services, Philadelphia-area chapter, Havertown

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s $800 million housing plan is a boondoggle in the making. As The Inquirer has pointed out, there are other ways to increase the housing stock that would put the cost more on the private sector. Putting low-income people in houses is a great idea, but keeping them there is another story. A house needs continual maintenance, which translates into continual cost. Is the city going to maintain all the homes it will assist in building? Almost certainly not. Parker’s plan is akin to many other mayors before her: either raise taxes (Jim Kenney’s soda tax) or saddle the citizens with long-term debt (John F. Street’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative). Street’s plan is especially instructive. Drive through some of the neighborhoods he targeted and see how long the “transformation” lasted. Parker should try and figure out how to lower taxes rather than taking on more long-term city debt that we will be paying for long after she is gone.

Charles Brennan, Philadelphia

I keep hearing that the Democrats need to fight more. With all the chaos and the flurry of overreaching executive orders, it is hard to keep track of the fights. If you pay close attention, the Democrats are fighting. They are fighting in the courts and winning. They are holding town halls, listening to constituents about what to fight for. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are crossing the country, gathering people in huge numbers to join the fight. They are fighting for our due process. They are fighting for our voting rights. Every executive order that goes out, someone stands up to fight.

Do you know who is not fighting? The Republicans. Not one of them will stand up to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, JD Vance, or Mike Johnson. They are all hiding in Washington, voting the way they are told. Not voting for us. The Republican Congress has given its power to the executive branch and has shown it is not willing to fight to get it back. It is not fighting for our justice system by making the executive branch follow court orders. It gave away its power over tariffs without a fight. It gave away its control over government agencies without a fight. It gave away our power and reputation around the world without a fight.

The problem isn’t the fight of the Democrats. It is the fear of the fight of the Republicans. Polls and protests show we need all elected officials to fight for us and our country, not follow the oligarchy down a dark path.

Ellen McGuigan, Clarks Summit, Pa.

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