Philadelphia hospital owner announces closure, citing losses

The owner of Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia has announced it will close in September because of what the company calls “continuing, unsustainable financial losses.”

Philadelphia Academic Health System said Wednesday that the 496-bed Level 1 trauma center will begin winding down services immediately pending closure on or around Sept. 6.

A labor union representing 800 registered nurses at Hahnemann called for an intervention, calling it “a safety-net hospital” for underserved communities.

Company president Joel Freedman said officials “pursued numerous strategic options” but cited the “heartbreaking reality that Hahnemann cannot continue to lose millions of dollars each month and remain in business.”

The company also owns St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, which Freedman said will remain open.

In April, 175 people were laid off at Hahnemann, which first opened as a homeopathic medical college in 1848.

source: abcnews.go.com