Pennsylvania

City, State Prepared to Spend $15M to Deal With Hahnemann Fallout

What to Know

  • Philadelphia's Hahnemann University Hospital is slated to close, leaving hundreds of working searching for new jobs.
  • Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf and Philly Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday their administrations are prepared to spend up to $15 million to cover fallout.
  • Philadelphia Academic Health System (PAHS) officials were not immediately available to comment on the statement from Wolf and Kenney.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday their administrations are prepared to spend up to $15 million to address "potential gaps in service and continuity of care concerns" related to the bankruptcy of Hahnemann and St. Christopher’s hospitals, and the pending closing of Hahnemann.

They also called on the White House and Congress to match all state and local funding, and to cover the debts accumulated by both governments to help ensure Hahnemann patients and workers are protected.

In a joint statement, Wolf and Kenney said: "At this point, there is no means to provide public funding to bail out the current owners. We are fighting to maintain patient safety, save access to care and employment, protect St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and mitigate the damage done by the current owner. This demands a long-term strategy and giving millions in taxpayer funds to Joel Freedman [president of the hospitals' parent company] or his financiers is not a responsible one..." (Read more of the statement on PBJ.com.)

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

PAHS officials were not immediately available to comment on the statement from Wolf and Kenney.

Read more about the latest Hahnemann developments here.

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