My take: New Crozer CEO faces challenges as ChristianaCare merger looms
The merger process of ChristianaCare and Delaware County’s Crozer Health had been in a quiet phase.
Then came news of Crozer getting a new CEO, the third in recent years. New CEO, Anthony Esposito, in a surprisingly candid interview with the Delco Times talked about the challenges of “stabilizing” the Delaware County health care system.
Back in February, ChristianaCare and Crozer announced plan to merge while acknowledging that the process could take time. Crozer is part of California-based Prospect, a for profit company while ChristianaCare is a nonprofit.
A merger would make ChristianaCare a sizable player in a rapidly consolidating Delaware Valley market that has left Crozer in a tough spot.
The merger news came at a time when Crozer was cutting services and becaming the target of criticism from Delco public officials and residents who suspected that Prospect was making the changes to clear the way for a smoother ChristianaCare merger.
However, Esposito said the cutbacks were mainly made in response to a lack of staff, rather than than other pressures. He did admit that the medical side of Crozer should have been more involved in the decision-making process.
Going forward, Esposito says he wants to restore services at Delaware County’s largest and get more staff in place.
He admits some headwinds are continuing, including Covid-19.
In neighboring Delaware, Covid cases are sill filling more than 130 hospital beds. Nationwide, fast-spreading versions of the virus continue to place strains on an already exhausted workforce that is still dealing with chronic staff shortages that have not gone away. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
