There’s insufficient proof that closing Delaware County Memorial Hospital would cause ‘irreparable harm’ to the community, a Commonwealth appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The court’s decision could allow hospital owner Prospect Medical Holdings and Crozer Health to convert the hospital into a behavioral health facility and urgent care center, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Foundation for Delaware County, representing the nonprofit that sold Crozer to Prospect, got a preliminary injunction in October from Delaware County Court of Common Pleas to stop the hospital conversion.

The hospital is closed at the moment by order of the state Department of Health because of a lack of staff for emergency department and inpatient services.

Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler wrote in her decision that testimony by Delaware County’s Health Department Director Melissa Lyon lacked the concrete evidence necessary to legally justify an irreparable harm determination.

Judge Lori A. Dumas joined Ceisler in the 2-1 opinion. A third judge on the panel, Patricia A. McCullough, dissented.

Frances Sheehan, president of the Foundation for Delaware County, was disappointed by the ruling.

“We think that irreparable harm to the community is obvious. We’ll be regrouping and deciding our next steps,” she said.

Read more about this latest court ruling for DCMH in The Philadelphia Inquirer.