St. Christopher's Hospital for Children struggled financially for years, but other local health systems and institutions won't let it sink.
The hospital serves primarily Medicaid beneficiaries and is considered a vital community resource. The situation became dire when the hospital filed for bankruptcy in June 2019 but was bought out by a partnership between Tower Health and Drexel University for $50 million before the end of that year.
"After emerging from bankruptcy in 2019, it was evident that St. Christopher's would need significant financial support to stabilize, both from the government and community partners," Robert Brooks, president and CEO of St. Christopher's, told Becker's recently. "Knowing that the government assistance process would take several years, a number of prominent regional institutions — Jefferson Health, Temple Health, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Independence Health Group — stepped in to support this vital community resource."
Still, the hospital struggled. The pandemic created additional challenges and in 2021 St. Christopher's reported $97 million operating loss, according to The Philadelphia Tribune. At the time, Drexel University President John Fry expected the hospital to improve. Tower, Drexel and the other Philadelphia-based organizations raised $54 million to keep St. Christopher's afloat.
"Our partners knew that St. Chris is not only an invaluable safety-net provider in Philadelphia, it is also one of the largest CHGME teaching programs in the country, and they stepped up to ensure that the hospital was on solid footing in the short-term," said Mr. Brooks. "Without those local partnerships, the future could have been very different for St. Chris."
Four years after filing for bankruptcy, St. Christopher's has become part of the Philadelphia Hospital Assessment, which brings together state, local and federal government programs to support hospitals with a high percentage of Medicaid patients. The program will "significantly increase" St. Chris's revenues in the future and put it on the path to financial stability, said Mr. Brooks.
"Over the next year, a vital partnership piece for St. Christopher's will be re-establishing strong relationships with referral hospitals for our tertiary care services," said Mr. Brooks. "A number of those connections were lost or diminished during our bankruptcy and the ensuing pandemic."