Only 16 months after Tower Health and Drexel University bought St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children out of bankruptcy, the future of the North Philadelphia safety net institution again hangs in the balance as Tower races to improve its finances or sell hospitals before it runs out of cash, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Pressure has mounted to the point that Drexel University president John Fry resigned this month from the Tower board to avoid conflicts of interest as he looks for a way to maintain St. Chris as a crucial teaching location for the Drexel College of Medicine’s third- and fourth-year students. It’s not clear whether a resolution is near, but Temple University Health System, which also uses St. Chris as a teaching location, is also in the mix to run the hospital. “Preserving St. Chris is important for Philadelphia, because it plays a vital role in the city’s health-care network for children. We are currently in discussions to see whether it’s possible for Temple to have a role in doing so,” Temple Health’s chief executive, Mike Young, said Monday. About the time of the St. Chris sale, which was completed in December 2019, executives at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia expressed a willingness to assist St. Chris’ new owners if asked. It’s not clear whether that ever happened.
