PA Safety-Net Hospitals Step Up When One of Their Own Closes
A core group of safety-net hospitals, led by SNAP members, has filled the gap left by the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital, another safety-net hospital, in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that since Hahnemann’s closing was announced during the summer, ER volume has risen 15 percent, admissions have risen 12 percent, and births have risen more than 50 percent at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a SNAP member. Meanwhile, SNAP member Pennsylvania Hospital has seen its ER visits rise nine percent, SNAP member Penn Presbyterian Medical Center has seen its ER volume increase five percent, and SNAP member the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has seen its ER volume rise five percent.
Patient volume also has risen significantly at Temple University Hospital.
Learn more about how Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, including SNAP members, have filled the void left by the closing of another safety-net hospital in the Philadelphia Business Journal article “Hahnemann fallout: Nearby hospitals see uptick in ER visits, admissions.”
This area is served almost exclusively by Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and recently suffered a major loss when one of those providers, Hahnemann University Hospital, closed its doors. 
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Instead, patients previously served by Hahnemann University Hospital, a Pennsylvania safety-net hospital that served especially large numbers of Medicaid and uninsured patients, are now being served by other safety-net hospitals in Philadelphia: mostly, Jefferson Health, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Einstein Healthcare Network, and Temple University Hospital. All report increased volume in their emergency rooms, more ambulance arrivals, and more inpatient admissions, but at least so far, they also report that they are comfortably handling the increased patient volume created when Hahnemann closed its emergency room and discharged its last patients in July.