Penn Medicine is in talks to acquire Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville, Pennsylvania from Tower Health, which closed the 171-bed facility in January 2022 due to financial losses, leaving nearby residents without a 24/7 healthcare provider.

Penn Medicine officials signed a letter of intent to buy the 85-acre campus, a Tower Health spokesperson told the Philly Voice, describing it as “a very positive outcome.” It is unknown when the deal will be complete, or what services the hospital will provide under Penn Medicine.

Bought by Tower Health in 2017, Brandywine and Jennersville Hospital, which closed a month before Brandywine, had a combined loss of $42 million in 2021, accounting for 9% of Tower Health’s inpatient admissions between April and June of that year. According to Fitch Ratings, Tower Health saw a loss of $195 million in 2022.

The loss of Brandywine and Jennersville, which together had approximately 200 beds and 800 staff members, created a surplus of patients at Penn’s Chester County Hospital, and Main Line Health’s Paoli Hospital, delayed emergency services, and created longer travel distances for ambulances.

"Penn Medicine already provides top hospital and health care services in Chester County, and the expansion of that investment to the Coatesville and surrounding area is tremendous news,” Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline said in a statement.

Tower Health previously was in talks with Canyon Atlantic Partners to take over Brandywine and Jennersville, but backed out. It also planned to form an alliance with Penn Medicine, but those plans were scrapped earlier this year.

ChristianaCare, in Delaware, acquired Jennersville Hospital in June 2022, and plans to reopen it in 2024 as a hospital.

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