Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘BETRAYAL OF TRUST’
Community seeks to save Jennersville Hospital after Tower Health announced it will close the facility by year's end
“Tower’s closure of the ER would have a tremendous impact on patient care and significantly increase EMS response times.” — Rep. John Lawrence, R-13th, of Franklin
PENN » Efforts to save Jennersville Hospital from closing for good continue.
And while Tower Health announced in late September an unexpected decision to close Jennersville Hospital, residents and leaders have taken swift action hoping the sole hospital in Southern Chester County, serving most closely Pennsylvania residents who live within the school districts of Avon Grove, Oxford and Octorara, never closes its ER doors to the public for good.
Jennersville Hospital will close effective midnight New Year’s Day, according to Tower Health, which purchased the facility less than five years ago.
“The Jennersville Emergency Room sees over 1,000 patients every month,” said state Rep. John Lawrence, R-13th, of Franklin on Saturday. “Tower’s closure of the ER would have a tremendous impact on patient care and significantly increase EMS response times. I am especially concerned about the impact on the volunteer ambulance services in Oxford and West Grove, along with Medic 94,” the state representative said.
Lawrence said he is working with local and state elected officials at the local and state level, including the Pennsylvania Department of Health, to evaluate options to keep the hospital open. “Tower’s abrupt closure announcement leaves us with a very short time frame, which is particularly challenging,” Lawrence said.
Besides operating a 24/7 emergency department, many private physicians run practices from rented space at the facility. Jennersville Hospital is located a few miles north of Lincoln University in Lower Oxford and less than a mile south of Jenner’s Pond retirement community in Penn Township on Old Baltimore Pike.
Back in 2017, Tower Health purchased Jennersville Hospital and Brandywine Hospital in Chester County from Community Health Systems of Tennessee.
Brandywine Hospital, which sits between the communities of Downingtown, West Caln and Coatesville, has a 2.5-star rating, out of five stars, on Google. Jennersville Hospital has a 2.4-star rating on Google.
One solution to keep the facility running for locals would be for another entity to purchase Jennersville Hospital from Tower Health. However as of press time, no potential buyer has been announced.
“Tower’s abrupt announcement is a betrayal of the trust this community placed in its stewardship,” Lawrence said. “I am disgusted and disappointed that local stakeholders were not consulted prior to this announcement.”
Jennersville’s Hospital first opened to the public in 1959.
“In addition to operating the only emergency room in our area, Jennersville Hospital hosts the Southern Chester County Emergency Medical Service, also known as Medic 94,” Lawrence said in September after news of Tower Health’s decision first broke. “A closure of the Jennersville emergency room would directly impact Medic 94 and the already overworked volunteer ambulance services in our area. It would also lead to increased response times for folks in
need, as ambulances have further to travel to West Chester or Newark.”
Chuck Freese is the emergency management coordinator for the Avon Grove region. Regarding the closure of Jennersville Hospital, the impact on emergency medic and ambulance services will be “huge,” he said.
“Medic 94 accompanies roughly 1,000 advanced life support patients per year to Jennersville Hospital emergency room. Regular Basic Life Support calls by ambulance alone, far exceed that number,” Freese said. “Sadly, Tower Health’s move to totally shut down this facility will impact our residents and their families in ways we have yet to fully realize,” Freese said.
“Just from a time impact, the average time currently for an Advanced Life Support responding out of Jennersville, from call dispatch to availability for the next call, is 55 minutes when transported to Jennersville Hospital. The next nearest hospital, geographically, is Union Hospital in Elkton (Maryland) and the time just about doubles to 105 minutes.”
Freese said a round trip to Brandywine Hospital equates to 110 minutes and a round trip to Christiana Hospital in Delaware is 111 minutes. Further, round trips to Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital is 118 minutes and to Penn Medicine in Lancaster is 144 minutes.
“Every one of these time frames means that particular ambulance, medic unit and their crews are unavailable should another call come in,” Freese said. “Additional equipment purchased and staff added are distinct possibilities to cover emergency calls during the extended time frames.”
Jenner’s Pond and Luther House are two nearby retirement communities that depend on Jennersville Hospital’s proximity when emergency calls are made for emergency assistance to help save the lives of residents facing a life alternating crisis, such as a heart attack. The lack of an emergency room will directly impact senior citizens, individuals and families in the surrounding 16 townships and boroughs in this end of the county, Freeze said on Friday.
However, there is still hope that Jennersville Hospital can somehow remain open — and without Tower Health at the helm. “There is much happening,” Freeze said. “Our local EMS squads are the ultimate professionals and are stepping up to meet the challenge with action.”
Jennersville Hospital employs nearly 400 people. Most individuals have already received termination notices.