Penn Medicine has decided not to buy former Brandywine Hospital campus near Coatesville
Penn is looking for a different property in western Chester County for a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System has decided not to buy the former Brandywine Hospital campus in Chester County from Tower Health because the property was not suitable for its construction plans, Penn said Friday.
When it announced a preliminary agreement in June to buy the property, Penn said it did not intend to reopen Brandywine as a traditional hospital. Instead, in a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Penn wanted to build a replacement for the out-of-date Coatesville VA Medical Center, provide emergency services for the public, and open an outpatient clinic.
Penn said Friday that it is trying to buy a different property in that part of Chester County to execute the plan, but did not say where the property is located or give a timeline. The health system also did not specify why the 69-acre VA property north of Coatesville was not appropriate for its plans.
Tower Health said in an emailed statement that it would put the hospital, which it closed two years ago, back on the market and that the property had received “significant interest from a variety of organizations.”
Penn’s collaboration with the VA
The U.S. Veterans Affairs department and Penn signed agreements in June to begin working on plans to replace the government’s aging facilities in Philadelphia and Coatesville, and expand care for veterans in the region. Built in 1930 and located on 129 acres, the Coatesville facility would cost $120.8 million to bring up to modern building code, the VA said in 2022, when Coatesville was recommended for closure.
The agreements were the first for the Veterans Affairs department under a federal law signed by President Joe Biden in 2020 that allows the department to lease facilities from its academic affiliates, including Penn, rather than have to build its own infrastructure with congressional appropriations.
Penn doctors have provided services at the VA medical center in Philadelphia since 1948, but do not have a presence at the Coatesville VA Center.
Veterans Affairs will continue collaborating with Penn to improve health care services for Southeastern Pennsylvania veterans while Penn looks for a different property, the department said.
Similarly, the Chester County Commissioners said they would support Penn’s effort to find an alternate location.