Hundreds of laid-off Crozer Health workers now have access to a job center that has opened in Chester, writes Jessica Kartalija for 6abc.
More than 2,600 healthcare workers in Delaware County were laid off last week after Crozer Health’s parent company, Los Angeles-based for-profit Prospect Medical Holdings, shut down the Delaware County healthcare system as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.
Delaware County has opened the Crozer Transition Center on the first floor of the Chester Police Department to provide job search assistance, career counseling, and resume support for displaced workers.
The center can help affected employees move forward, whether that means staying in healthcare or transitioning into a new field, said Kate McGeever, executive director of workforce development for Delaware County.
“We will sit with them, help them develop their resume, help them think about what will come next – do they want to stick with the career they are currently pursuing, or do they want to do something a little bit different, or move up in their career,” she said.
The transition center will remain open as long as needed, officials said.
A job and resource fair is also scheduled for next Tuesday, May 13, at Subaru Park in Chester.
Find out more about the job help at 6abc.
Crozer patients are also scrambling to see if they still have doctors to visit. The Crozer closures not only included Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital, but it also shut down an unknown number of doctor’s offices and health centers across Delaware County, writes Joe Holden and Will Kenworthy for CBS News Philadelphia.
Malisha Eldridge and her colleagues at a Media Crozer Health complex are working to close the complex as most of the workers there have received termination notices. They expect to be gone in 60 days.
Crozer Health workers at doctors’ offices across the county have had a high volume of calls from worried patients about whether they are staying open.
There were initial hopes that larger facilities in Glen Mills, Haverford, Broomall, and Media would be spared. However, those facilities are still closing until Prospect Medical is out of the picture as bankruptcy auctions of those locations are concluded, according to Delaware County Chair Dr. Monica Taylor.
“Clearly, Prospect is not communicating clearly to anyone,” Taylor said. “Our understanding is that all of them will be closing, even if it is just for a short amount of time.”
For now, surgical centers at Haverford and Brinton Lake remain open.
Find out more about Crozer Health doctors’ offices at CBS News Philadelphia.
You can also visit the Delaware County Health Department website for the latest available information on the impacts of the Prospect Medical bankruptcy.
