The prospects of Brandywine and Jennersville Hospitals took a hit as their buyer failed to post $1 million bond
The would-be buyer, Canyon Atlantic, missed a key deadline in its bid to buy the two hospitals that Tower Health closed this winter.
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Canyon Atlantic Partners on Thursday failed to post the $1 million bond that a Chester County judge required last week when he gave the Texas hospital management company a three-month reprieve to work on buying the shuttered Brandywine and Jennersville Hospitals from Tower Health.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Edward Griffith granted a preliminary injunction against Tower on Feb. 14, effectively reinstating the sale agreement to Canyon that Tower abruptly canceled on Dec. 8.
Tower pulled the plug on the sale of the hospitals in western Chester County because Canyon neither showed “the necessary regulatory and operational preparedness, nor validated its financial ability, to complete this transaction and operate these hospitals,” according to a statement at the time.
The bond had not been filed when the the Chester County prothonotary’s office closed at 4:30 p.m. It’s possible that Canyon could ask for more time.
The failure of Canyon Atlantic to post the bond was a blow to those who have been working for months to save the hospitals. “It’s quite frankly devastating to us to have put so much time and resources into it,” said David McKeighan, executive director of the Chester County Medical Society.
McKeighan said a visit to the hospitals by Canyon Atlantic representatives on Wednesday made clear the severe challenges that would face any buyer. “There’s a whole lot more to do to reopen a hospital than to keep them open,” he said.
The extra cost of reopening is huge. “It would cost several million to get the labs open and certified,” he said.
A representative of Canyon Atlantic could not be reached for comment Thursday, leaving it unclear why the company formed by executives with no public track record of turning around hospitals did not meet Griffith’s $1 million demand.
Under the deal with Tower, Canyon was supposed to pay $1 million at closing and then as much as $15.5 million more to Tower over time.
Jennersville closed on Dec. 31, Brandywine on Jan 31, putting hundreds out of work and forcing residents to travel farther for emergency and other care.