WILMINGTON — A little less than a month after announcing it would buy the former Jennersville Hospital, ChristianaCare announced today that it has completed the $8 million acquisition.
ChristianaCare has yet to announce a timeline when the hospital in West Grove, Pa., would be reopened, but officials noted that the reopening would take “some time.” The sale included 24 acres of land next to the hospital as well as two office buildings from Tower Health.
When the hospital reopens, it will be known as ChristianaCare West Grove Campus.
“It is our privilege to serve our neighbors in southern Chester County as expert, caring partners in health,” ChristianaCare President and CEO Janice Nevin said in a statement “We are excited to have this opportunity to reimagine health care at the ChristianaCare West Grove Campus. We are here as long-term partners in supporting a healthy southern Chester County community.”
Since the deal for the 63-bed hospital from Tower Health was announced in mid-June, ChristianaCare leaders have been meeting with community leaders to listen and learn. The first priority will be to re-establish emergency services.
“We’ve heard loud and clear that this is what the community most urgently needs,” said Dr. Heather Farley, ChristianaCare’s chief wellness officer and a leader for the campus development strategy. “This has been an extraordinary experience to date. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the southern Chester County community, and everyone has been incredibly welcoming and supportive.”
ChristianaCare’s acquisition of the Jennersville hospital dovetails with its recent moves to aggressively expand in the tri-state region.
Last year, Delaware’s largest health care system announced it entered a tentative agreement to acquire four hospitals in the Crozer Health System in Pennsylvania. ChristianaCare also acquired the former Union Hospital in Elkton, Md., in 2020.
In addition, ChristianaCare has plans to open its first primary care office in Rehoboth Beach and Milford, as well as opening a spinal surgery center in Wilmington. Earlier this year, the health care system announced it would acquire two Tower Health primary care offices in Jennersville and West Grove.
ChristianaCare will embark on a planning process to “develop a smart, sustainable model for this campus that will meet the long-term needs of the community,” according to press statements.
“It’s going to take a few more months before we can lay out a timeline,” ChristianaCare Senior Vice President of Strategic Clinical Integration Douglas Azar said. “There are a lot of complexities that go into that, including information technology, supply chain, workforce, building renovations and much more. We’re going to move as quickly as we can, and we look forward to our continued conversations with the community along the way.”
