Hahnemann University Hospital to close in September, citing losses

PHILADELPHIA - Hahnemann University Hospital will close Sept. 6 due to "continuing, unsustainable financial losses," hospital officials announced Wednesday.

“Our primary concern is the care of our patients,” said Allen Wilen, Chief Restructuring Officer for Philadelphia Academic Health System (PAHS). “Our dedicated staff will continue to care for each and every individual, until all patients can be safely discharged or transferred to new facilities.”

Hahnemann will immediately begin what it calls an "orderly wind-down of its inpatient and outpatient treatment services" in conjunction with a comprehensive closure plan. 

“Do you think they’ve mismanaged the hospital?" FOX 29's Jeff Cole asked. Mayor Jim Kenney replied, "I don’t know. I don’t have the financial information."

Mayor Kenney says the hospital president Joel Freedman has not fully worked with the city.

"We’ve been working for the last three months to figure out different ways in which we can make this work. He’s not been forthcoming with a lot of financial information to allow us plan," Mayor Kenney said.

Mayor Kenney says he wants Hahnemann’s emergency room, which treats low-income Philadelphians, to stay open.

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The hospital is working to find placement for all residents and fellows completing their training at Hahnemann.

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

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.

Hahnemann is a Level 1 trauma center with 496 beds and approximately 2,500 employees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.