Crozer Health got the final word this week that it will not be able to keep its general surgical residency program, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The training program for doctors had 15 participants when the accreditation was first withdrawn in January “under special circumstances” by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which oversees the program.

Crozer Health appealed the January decision.  

“We strongly disagree with the ACGME’s decision. We have worked with the remaining residents to secure training sites for them,” Crozer’s CEO Tony Esposito said in an email.

Only three residents remain with the program as of this week.

Two possible reasons may have led to ACGME’s decision, based on its rules and procedures.

Cancelling a residency program would mean “there are a catastrophic loss of resources, including faculty members, facilities, or funding” or “egregious noncompliance with accreditation requirements.”

According to legal documents, the ACGME investigation of the Crozer program came after an anonymous complaint reported that surgical volumes were insufficient for the residents’ training needs.

Crozer still maintains residency programs in emergency medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry.

It also has a transitional year program, required for some specialties

Read more about Crozer Health’s residency program loss in The Philadelphia Inquirer.