Philadelphia hospital closure leaves 570 medical residents scrambling

Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia is closing and its 570 physicians-in-training need to find new placements, according to The Philadelphia Tribune.

American Academic Heath System announced plans in late June to close Hahnemann University Hospital due to unsustainable financial losses. Hahnemann is the primary teaching hospital for Drexel University's College of Medicine, and news that the hospital will close by Sept. 6 has upended the careers of the medical residents training at the 495-bed hospital.

Although all of the physicians-in-training face the undoubtedly stressful process of finding a new placement, the situation is more serious for the roughly 55 medical residents who have J-1 cultural exchange visas. Those medical residents will have to leave the U.S. if they are unable to find new placements within 30 days of losing their jobs at Hahnemann, according to The Philadelphia Tribune.

Local teaching hospitals are showing support for physicians-in-training affected by the hospital closure. Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia said it will work with regulatory and oversight bodies to accommodate medical residents, while Jefferson Health in Philadelphia and Cooper Health in Camden, N.J., have set up websites where affected residents can apply, according to The Philadelphia Tribune.

On July 10, Hahnemann University Hospital and Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health announced they have signed a letter of intent to transfer most of the residency and fellowship programs affected by the hospital closure to Tower Health. Under the proposed agreement, which was submitted to the bankruptcy court for approval, physicians-in-training would be given the opportunity to transfer to one of Tower Health's six hospitals, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. The organizations said the transfer is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 1. 

Access the full article from The Philadelphia Tribune here.

Access the full article from the Philadelphia Business Journal here

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Editor's note: This article was updated July 10 to include information about the letter of intent to transfer residency and fellowship programs to Tower Health. 

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