WEST CHESTER − December 9, 2021 − State Senator Carolyn Comitta today issued the following statement in response to Tower Health’s announcement that the sale of Jennersville Hospital and Brandywine Hospital to Canyon Atlantic will not take place. Tower Health now plans to close Jennersville Hospital on December 31 and Brandywine Hospital on January 31.

“To say I feel disappointed, frustrated, and even angry by news of the sudden reversal of course by Tower Health is an understatement. When it was announced that Jennersville would close, our legislative delegation, local municipalities, and county commissioners worked and acted sincerely and in good faith to do everything in our power to save it. When it was announced, days before Thanksgiving, that Tower had found a new buyer for both Jennersville and Brandywine, we took them at their word. When we raised questions about Canyon Atlantic, a largely unknown entity, we were met first with reassurances and later with silence.

Now, to learn that the sale will not go through and both hospitals will close feels like a betrayal. What the people of Chester County need and deserve is an honest, open, dedicated, and patient-centered approach to keeping both hospitals open as vital community health assets. Like all our elected officials, I remain committed to saving both hospitals and finding solutions to preserve quality and affordable healthcare, emergency, and acute services. Like patients and employees, I am extremely concerned that by Tower raising our hopes and then dashing them just two weeks before Christmas, we have lost precious time.  

Finally, please know that we will continue to work at the local, county, and state levels to address the vital and heightened urgency of this issue. And though our communities, leaders, and residents here in Chester County may have lost faith in Tower Health, given these developments, it seems that the very least it can do is delay the closures of both hospitals. In the spirit of the season and the spirit of its mission statement – ‘advancing the health and transforming the lives of the people it serves’ – Tower Health has a moral obligation to, at the bare minimum, keep these hospitals open until we can find a solution for those who rely on them.”

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