COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

December 28, 2021

Dear Tower Health CEO:

Please accept this correspondence as notice that the Pennsylvania Department of Health (Department) has
reason to believe that you have failed to comply with the closure plans submitted to the Department for
Jennersville and Brandywine Hospitals and have failed to amend closure plan to reflect the actual state of
the hospital closures and state of communications surrounding those closures.

As you are aware, in the closure plans you submitted to the Department for Jennersville Hospital and
Brandywine Hospital, on October 15, 2021 and December 8, 2021, respectively, you indicated that you
would contact Emergency Services in Chester County to ensure appropriate patient care and transfers.
Those contacts were to occur on September 28, 2021 for Jennersville Hospital and on December 9, 2021
for Brandywine Hospital and the communications were to be ongoing until cessation of services at the
hospitals. The Department was made aware on December 22, 2021, that Tower Health has failed to
provide Chester County Emergency Medical Services with accurate, ongoing communications on the
cessation of services at both hospitals. This failure is unacceptable. The Emergency Medical Services
division plays a key role in assisting and planning resource allocation and ensuring prompt access to care.
Without ongoing, accurate information, EMS is not able to fulfill those duties which poses an avoidable
risk to public safety.

The Department has also been made aware that Tower Health has not assigned persons to participate in
Regional Healthcare Coalition planning and preparedness efforts, including failing to participate in
weekly meetings where regional responses to the hospital closures are being developed. Again, this is
unacceptable. The healthcare coalitions and regional partners are making plans to address increased
emergency department volumes, compounding of the dire shortage of behavioral health services, and
ensuring support and coordination across the region all while managing an ongoing pandemic. It is
inexcusable that you would not make Tower Health personnel available to participate in those efforts.

Further, the Department has learned that members of the Chester County community are reporting to their
local elected officials that there is a lack of public information surrounding the closures. In order for
members of the public to make informed decisions about their health care, they need to have accessible
and accurate information about their options. Tower Health has failed to make readily available
information pertinent to the closures of Jennersville and Brandywine Hospitals. In a review of your
webpage for Jennersville Hospital, there is little information about the hospital closure date, no
information about the cessation of emergency services, no information about accessing medical records,
and no contact information for patients or family members who have questions. The page for Brandywine
Hospital provides greater detail but lacks important information about cessation of emergency services
and alternative care options.

Effective communication is a critical element to a safe, orderly hospital closure. While the Department
understands that closing a hospital is not a small task, it is unacceptable that the closure dates are quickly
approaching and the community does not have the information to adequately prepare. Chester County will
be feeling the impacts of the loss of health care services and jobs caused by the closures of Jennersville
and Brandywine Hospitals for years to come and keeping the public informed so they can navigate the
process as effectively as possible is one of your most basic responsibilities.

Keara Klinepeter – SECRETARY OF HEALTH

625 Forster Street 8th Floor West | Health and Welfare Building | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 | 717.787.9857| www.health.pa.gov
 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH

For the reasons outlined above, the Department expects you to take the following steps immediately:

1. Contact Chester County Emergency Services and local law enforcement and provide them with a
detailed closure plan that includes all information necessary for coordination of an ongoing
response to the hospitals’ closures. This communication should be comprehensive and ongoing.
2. Contact Chester County elected officials and provide them with a detailed closure plan that can
be shared with their constituents who have been relying on them for information about the
closure.
3. Contact your Regional Healthcare Coalition to provide them with closure details that can be used
to support the regional health care response that is necessary to prevent lapses in care and
overburdening of area providers and make every possible effort to participate in regional response
planning activities.
4. Add information to your website and other publicly accessible sources to inform members of the
Chester County community about the closure timelines for Jennersville and Brandywine
Hospitals, provide guidance on alternative care options for patients, and provide information on
ongoing access to medical records for former patients.
5. Provide a written update to the closure plans submitted to the Department to reflect any changes
in the information provided and to document elements of the plan that have been completed.
The Department applauds the leadership of Chester County legislators, local officials, and health care
partners that are working tirelessly to mitigate the effects of these hospital closures and we expect you to
be a willing partner in those efforts. Failure to ensure a safe, orderly closure in accordance with your
closure plan could result in regulatory action being taken against you, including the imposition of civil
monetary penalties, and will be a factor considered in determining whether Tower Health is a responsible
health care provider for all other licensed health care facilities under your ownership in the
Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

Keara Klinepeter,
Acting Secretary of Health

Keara Klinepeter – SECRETARY OF HEALTH

625 Forster Street 8th Floor West | Health and Welfare Building | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 | 717.787.9857| www.health.pa.gov