Crozer CEO Tony Esposito Stepping Down, Plans for Sale Remain Unknown
Rep. Leanne Krueger April 15, 2025 | 3:53 PM
April 15, 2025 --
On Thursday, almost 600 people tuned in online for another hearing on Crozer at the bankruptcy court in Texas. A few hours before the hearing, the closure motion that Prospect threatened on Tuesday was taken off the agenda, meaning they did not present a plan to close. Prospect attorneys informed the judge that they had been able to raise $6M to keep the system open for a week to 10 days. The $6M included $5M from Penn Medicine structured as a partial donation as well as a purchase of the furnishings and assumption of leases for Broomall and Brinton Lake locations as well as $1M from Delaware County that is an advancement of funds for behavioral health services. While this wasn’t the full $9M that Prospect demanded last Tuesday, it was enough to avoid a closure that day. They told the judge that they would begin to implement the court-appointed Receiver’s plan for restructuring on an expedited basis, including moving OB/GYN services to another provider who they did not disclose during the hearing, but Main Line Health sent an email to their staff the next day announcing that they are actively working with Crozer Health to bring its OB/GYN clinicians and patients to Main Line Health. Details about how that transfer of service will happen are still unclear. The patient ombudsman appointed by the bankruptcy court has been on the ground in Delaware County to ensure continuity of patient care as much as possible.
What the Prospect attorneys didn’t announce last Thursday was a sale – negotiations are still ongoing for an Asset Purchase Agreement to transfer the system to a nonprofit consortium. The hearing ended with Prospect’s attorneys asking the judge to keep on the docket both a motion to sell and a closure motion. We avoided a closure last week, but we are not out of the woods yet.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has invested $60,572,000 in Crozer Health since Prospect took control of the Crozer system in 2016. This includes a combination of medical assistance funding, COVID relief support for hospitals and $10M in advanced funding at the request of the Attorney General earlier this year to provide liquidity to allow for a long-term solution to be put in place. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Delaware County, the Foundation for Delaware County and now Penn Medicine have all invested in trying to prevent a disorderly closure. While the top priority right now is trying to negotiate some kind of sale, I want the bankruptcy judge to hold Prospect accountable and to claw back assets from the bad actors who extracted resources from our healthcare system to make themselves richer. The judge promised at last Tuesday’s hearing that a point would come later in the bankruptcy process where she would ask the question, “Who may have done something bad here?” I and so many others from Delaware County look forward to that day.
Yesterday Crozer CEO Tony Esposito sent out an email announcing that after five and a half years at Crozer Health, he has decided to step down as CEO, effective April 18, 2025. He also announced that Greg Williams, current President of Prospect Medical Holdings’ East Coast Operations, will assume the role of Interim CEO upon his departure.
While I know that the attorneys met over the weekend, I have not gotten any additional updates on their progress towards a deal and no other hearings are scheduled at this time. When the Bankruptcy Judge in Texas does schedule a hearing, you can view it online at Cisco Webex.