Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health lost its bid to keep its general surgery residency program, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported June 26.
In January, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education withdrew accreditation for the program "under special circumstances," but did not provide details on the reasons.
"We strongly disagree with the ACGME's decision," Crozer CEO Anthony Esposito said in a statement shared with Becker's. "We have worked with the remaining residents to secure training sites for them."
The ACGME's review committee can withdraw a sponsoring institution or program's accreditation in the event of "a catastrophic loss of resources, including faculty members, facilities, or funding" or "egregious non-compliance with accreditation requirements," according to its policies and procedures list.
Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings, the for-profit owner of Crozer, sued the ACGME in January, alleging that resident physicians left the training program at Crozer-Chester Medical Center due to concerns that their efforts between January and June may not be credited toward educational prerequisites.
An anonymous complaint that surgical volumes were insufficient for residents' training needs launched the ACGME investigation, according to the Inquirer. The program had 15 slots, but only three residents remained when Crozer lost its appeal.
"We are actively recruiting clinicians to our facilities to help ensure that our patients continue to receive safe, quality care and we do not anticipate any interruption to our services as a result of the ACGME's decision," Mr. Esposito said.