Crozer Health lost its ambulance vendor, Keystone Quality Transport, so it is facing an ambulance shortage as it uses emergency ambulances for nonemergency transport, writes Harold Brubaker and Sarah Gantz for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Crozer owes the vendor $267,000, so they quit providing service on Friday.
Likewise, a fuel card bill went unpaid, so $500 in Wawa gift cards was used to fuel up the ambulance fleet, said Kate Denney, union president for the Crozer-Chester Paramedic Association.
Crozer Health Owner Prospect Medical Holdings has applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, making the Delaware County health system’s future uncertain. Crozer is losing about $160 million a year, according to a bankruptcy attorney.
A court order permitted Crozer to pay vendors providing essential services, but Keystone Quality Transport was not on the list.
Crozer CEO Tony Esposito said in an email that Crozer had offered to pay Keystone.
The emergency ambulances are supposed to provide EMS service to at least seven Delaware County towns.
Public safety officials are working on alternatives if Crozer closes or stops offering emergency services.
“As this continues and this crisis expands, some lives could be lost that could possibly have been saved,” said Brian Boyce, Upper Darby’s fire chief.
Read more details about how the Prospect bankruptcy is affecting Crozer operations in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on DELCO Today in January 2025.
