Chester County and state medical leaders worry that Brandywine, Phoenixville, and Jennersville hospitals will close, writes Kelly Rule for FOX29.

They believe that the hospitals’ owner, financially troubled Tower Health, will shutter them if it cannot find a partner.

The history of one particular hospital in Coatesville – built by African-American physician W.C. Atkinson in 1932 to provide the Black community with its first access to healthcare – leaves a lingering fear over what could happen if these hospitals close.

“I think the historical relevance of this place losing medical care is what scares everyone because it happened before,” said Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell.

The local medical community proposed one solution: A committee purchases the hospitals and runs them as a nonprofit foundation. According to retired malpractice attorney Bart Post, the foundation would serve as more than just a hospital.

“You have all types of allied medical facilities that work along with the hospital in a symbiotic way,” he said. “Picture that hospital is not only just a hospital but it’s a daycare facility.”

Read more about these three Tower Health hospitals at FOX29.