Emergency rooms at Crozer Chester Medical Center, Taylor Hospital reopen after temporarily closing
The emergency rooms at two Delaware County hospitals have reopened after temporarily shutting down due to issues with their radiology systems, Delaware County officials told CBS News Philadelphia.
The ERs at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, which are owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, reopened just before 1:45 p.m. after closing around 10 a.m. Tuesday, Delaware County officials confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia.
Earlier Tuesday, Crozer Health CEO Anthony Esposito said the company's radiology system was completely down, and outside vendors and the Crozer team were working diligently on it. The radiology systems are now back up and running.
Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, or PASNAP, told CBS News Philadelphia that the actual technology used to read the film gathered in the X-ray process was what was temporarily out of commission.
Delaware County 911 advised ambulances to bypass both locations and take patients to other hospitals earlier Tuesday.
However, numerous local officials told CBS News Philadelphia there was an information blackout on Tuesday. Many didn't want to comment on the emergency rooms' abrupt closure because they didn't know what was going on in Delaware County.
The same could be said about the Mayor of Chester, Stefan Roots, who said he wasn't happy about being in the dark about the temporary closures. The Chester mayor said he hadn't heard about either one being closed until CBS News Philadelphia called his office and his assistant informed him.
"To think that I can get a phone call earlier today that it's shut down, just cold, pisses me off I can't say it any other way without cursing," Roots said. "I'm really upset."
CBS News Philadelphia is waiting to hear back from a Crozer-Chester spokesperson regarding the mayor's comments.
The temporary pause in emergency care comes just weeks after the Pennsylvania attorney general's office sued Prospect Medical Holdings over alleged "neglect and mismanagement."
In the lawsuit, the Pennsylvania attorney general said there are signs Crozer-Chester could see suspended services and be in danger of closing, following the leads of Delaware County Memorial and Springfield hospitals.
Prospect Medical Holdings called the filing of the lawsuit "hasty" and "completely unnecessary." The Pennsylvania attorney general's office had no comment on the emergency rooms closing when CBS News Philadelphia reached out.
Earlier this year, Crozer Health announced Taylor Hospital would stop performing surgeries and consolidate operations at other locations.
