Hahnemann University Hospital Reveals Timeline of Closures

Amid outrage from protesters and lawmakers, Hahnemann University Hospital revealed a detailed timeline for its impending closure.

On Tuesday, the hospital announced the following anticipated dates for the closure of their operations:

• Admissions from the emergency department will end at 7 a.m. on July 17.
• Elective surgical cases requiring inpatient care will cease on July 17.
• The inpatient operating room will close for non-emergency cases on July 17.
• Direct inpatient admissions will cease on July 19.
• Endoscopy and colonoscopy services end on July 26.
• Same-day surgeries will end on July 26.
• Infusion center and aphaeresis services end on July 26.
• Sleep Lab will close on July 26.
• Emergency Department will close on August 16.
• Hospital services such as lab, radiology, blood bank, and pharmacy will close on August 23.
• The Drexel outpatient oncology suite located in Hahnemann will cease operations on or before Sept. 6.
• The hospital building is planned to close on or about Sept. 6.

The plan is pending approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Philadelphia Health Commissioner’s Office.

Philadelphia Academic Health System (PAHS) — a division of California-based American Academic Health System (AAHS) — and its subsidiaries Hahnemann and St. Christopher's filed for bankruptcy court protection on June 30, less than a week after announcing plans to close Hahnemann because of mounting financial losses.

“The decision to close Hahnemann was an extremely difficult, but necessary one, due to continuing, unsustainable financial losses. We have been working hand in hand with the Mayor’s Office, Drexel University, and officials from the Philadelphia Health Commissioner’s Office and the Pennsylvania Department of Health to ensure a smooth wind-down of operations,” said Ron Dreskin, PAHS Interim System CEO. “We appreciate the hard work and diligence of our medical and clinical staff in crafting a comprehensive plan that adheres to state and city regulations.”

AAHS said it has no plans to close St. Christopher's, but it is looking for a buyer for the pediatric medical center.

The announcement of Hahnemann’s closure prompted protests and reactions from Gov. Tom Wolf, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sanders, in a rally in front of hundreds outside the hospital on Monday, said Hahnemann’s closure is an example of corporate greed in health care and called on the hospital’s investment banker owner Joel Freedman to keep it open. He accused Freedman of wanting to cash in on Hahnemann’s real estate and warned that Hahnemann’s plight is a national problem.

Wolf and Kenney pledged up to $15 million to help meet the health care needs of Hahnemann patients and the community, and they want the federal government to match that and cover the company’s debts of $40 million to the state and city.

“I’m afraid if we don’t do this right that there are going to be people who need acute care and aren’t going to be able to get it when they need it,” Wolf said Monday after a news conference in the Capitol on an unrelated topic.

Wolf and Kenney said it isn’t responsible to give taxpayer money to Freedman and his venture capital firm, which bought Hahnemann and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children last year.

Freedman insisted he tried to keep Hahnemann open, even exploring its transfer to a not-for-profit organization. But those discussions weren’t successful and no one else offered to take it over, Freedman said in a statement.