Max Cooper, a former emergency room doctor at the now-closed Crozer Hospital in Delaware County, spoke about the dangers of private equity firms purchasing hospitals and then shutting them down for profit.

Prospect Medical Holdings, which closed four Delaware County hospitals in the last three years, purchased Corzer in July 2016 for $300 million. The company promised to keep the hospital open for 10 years, but closed it with very little warning last month.

Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House passed House Bill 1460, which aims to stop exploitative private equity practices, by a bipartisan 121 to 82 margin on Tuesday. The bill also allows the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office to block deals that threaten access to care.

✏️ / 📹 : Sean Kitchen
#Pennsylvania #Delco #DelawareCounty #Crozer #ProspectMedicalHoldings #Philadelphia #Philly #HealthCare #Hospitals

Peggy Malone, a nurse who worked at Crozer Hospital, told The Keystone that she was fired from a new job after speaking out against private equity firms closing hospitals across the commonwealth.

Prospect Medical Holdings closed four hospitals it purchased, including Crozer, in Delaware County over the last three years. The company originally promised to keep the hospital open for 10 years, however, they closed Crozer with little warning at the beginning of May.

Malone explained that she had a new job lined up after Crozer closed but was unexpectedly fired after expressing her views about Prospect Medical Holdings at a press conference with Gov. Josh Shapiro last month.

✏️ /📹 : Sean Kitchen
#Pennsylvania #Delco #DelawareCounty #Crozer #ProspectMedicalHoldings #Philadelphia #Philly #HealthCare #Hospitals

State Rep. Joe Hohenstein (D-Philadelphia) served as an immigration attorney before his election to the Pennsylvania House, and he had a dire warning for union members while speaking about Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raids happening across the country.

Hohenstein says that President Donald Trump’s administration is coming after the working class and the American way of life.

On Monday, labor unions across Pennsylvania called for an end to the ICE raids sweeping across the commonwealth and the country after federal agents arrested SEIU California President David Huerta last Friday. Huerta was charged with conspiracy to impede an officer during an ICE raid, which could carry a jail sentence of up to six years in prison.

✏️/📹 : Sean Kitchen
#Pennsylvania #Philadelphia #FreeDavidEndRaids #SEIU #Immigration #Labor #Union #Harrisburg #Pittsburgh #ICE

Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare PA, warned that Medicaid reforms in the US House Republicans’ budget bill may cost millions of Americans their health care coverage.

Republicans passed a budget earlier this month that cuts Medicaid by $700 billion and could force over 7 million Americans off the program.

Under the bill, Medicaid recipients would have to prove that they are working at least 80 hours a month and renew their coverage every six months.

Medicaid covers over 3 million Pennsylvanians and 34% of all births throughout the commonwealth. According to the Center for American Progress, 340,000 Pennsylvanians could lose their coverage if the US Senate approves this budget.

✏️/📹 : Sean Kitchen
#Pennsylvania #Philadelphia #Harrisburg #Pittsburgh #Medicaid #MedicaidCuts #HandsOffMedicaid #Republicans #DonaldTrump