By Richard Ilgenfritz
Main Line Times & Suburban
RADNOR, Pa. 鈥� Believing it could have an impact on emergency services, Radnor鈥檚 Board of Commissioners has declared an emergency over the shutdown of the Crozer Health system.
The resolution that was passed at its commissioner鈥檚 meeting this week said the closure is 鈥渁 significant public health crisis [that] has emerged in Delaware County due to the reduction of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the closure of two Delaware County hospitals, a direct consequence of the overall closure of Crozer-Chester Health.鈥�
Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns Crozer Health, recently announced it is shutting down the health system.
Bill White, Radnor Township manager, said many of the ambulances that provided service to the southern part of Delaware County could eventually affect Radnor.
鈥淯ltimately, the ripple effect of those ambulances no longer being in service will roll up to the municipalities in the northern end of Delaware County, including Radnor, and what that means is our ambulances will be called into service services to areas outside of Radnor Township on an increasing basis is the forecast of what this impact will be from an EMS side,鈥� White said.
White said on the police side, the closure of the hospital system also means that police officers and the township鈥檚 Community Support Unit could face decreased resources for mental health emergencies.
Radnor鈥檚 Community Support Unit 鈥渁ims to enhance police services in Radnor Township with a strong emphasis on victim services and response to substance abuse and mental health emergencies. Among these duties, the new Licensed Social Worker (LSW) & police officers will respond immediately to mental health emergencies and follow up on victims of crimes post incident. The CSU will also be available for response to calls in high density areas to supplement the Patrol Division.鈥�
鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 a further distance for our officers to go, it鈥檚 less resources for them to respond to and for them to provide service to our residents in need,鈥� White said.
White said the resolution adds Radnor Township to the list of participating Delaware County municipalities, recognizing those services鈥� negative impacts.
鈥淢ore functionally, it opens the door to Radnor receiving some sort of future reimbursement should money ever become available. And to the extent we expend funds trying to address these needs, that will not occur unless we鈥檙e back in front of the board to talk about what the exposure might be.鈥�
According to White, if the service times for emergency medical services are lengthening to a point where it鈥檚 unsatisfactory to the township, they could try to contract with others to fill in those gaps.
鈥淭hat additional cost then would be added to this declaration and then presumably become recoverable should FEMA or PEMA have money available at some point down the road,鈥� he said.
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