Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. should pay back Pennsylvania, Delaware County and The Foundation for Delaware County the $40 million that was spent to keep the Crozer Health system running, according to a 16-person delegation of Delaware County state representatives.

 Prospect’s current and former owners should also be investigated for criminal activity, the delegates wrote in a letter.

They are also asking that Prospect pay to keep standby ambulance service at Crozer-Chester Medical Center operating for 16 weeks to transfer any patients to new facilities that may show up after the hospital closes, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The delegation asked Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday to petition bankruptcy judge Stacey Jernigan, who is overseeing Prospect’s cases, about returning the $40 million and about investigating the for-profit healthcare company..

“Given the reports from staff of systemic disinvestment in the infrastructure during the nine years that Prospect owned the Crozer Health system, we implore you to leave no stone unturned in holding them accountable,” the letter said.

It’s not yet known if the attorney general or Judge Jernigan will act on the delegation’s request.

Read more about the delegation’s letter in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The closing of the Crozer Health system will mean millions of dollars in lost tax revenue to Delaware County schools, townships and boroughs, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

Prospect Medical Holdings owns several buildings and offices in Chester, Upland Borough, and Ridley Park.

The Chester-Upland School District could lose $2.2 million in annual tax revenue, according to school district Receiver Nafis Nichols.

Prospect is supposed to pay $500,000 each year in taxes to the Ridley School District, but that amount hasn’t been paid since the parties negotiated a tax assessment settlement in 2021, according to Lee Ann Wentzel, superintendent of Ridley School District.

“It’s huge, when you’re talking numbers like that,” Wentzel said. “That’s 10 teaching positions, right? So that alone reduces class size.”

In 2024, Ridley Park Borough passed a 17 percent property tax increase to cover Prospect’s unpaid tax bills.

Upland Borough officials also stated that “the financial strain this will cause is immeasurable.”

Read more about the tax impact of the Crozer Health closures at WHYY.