Shapiro backs bill to stop private equity in PA hospitals, protect health care

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• Gov. Shapiro urges passage of Health System Protection Act

• Bill targets private equity threats to PA hospitals and workers

• Law aims to protect access to care and support health workers

Calling on the General Assembly to pass the Health System Protection Act, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Pennsylvania must prevent the next Crozer, and not let private equity raid the commonwealth’s hospitals.  

Shapiro is supporting the newly introduced legislation that would ban sale-leaseback schemes and provide Pennsylvania’s Attorney General authority to block bad deals threatening access to health care.  

“Private equity has no place in our health care system,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We’ve seen what happens when corporate raiders like Prospect Medical Holdings prioritize profits over patients — families lose access to care, health care workers lose their jobs, and communities across the commonwealth suffer.” 

The governor’s budget address in February called for reform to the way private equity has infected Pennsylvania’s health care system — gutting hospitals, laying off workers, and cutting off communities from essential care. According to a release, Shapiro is standing with health care workers and leaders to safeguard Pennsylvanians’ access to care, support displaced workers, maintain emergency medical services, and hold private equity firms accountable for their actions. 

“I am done letting private equity wreak havoc on our healthcare system, wreak havoc on our communities, treating our hospitals like a piggy bank that they can drain and then smash on the floor,” said Shapiro. “Those days are over. The time for action is right now.” 

Introduced by Sen. Tim Kearney, D-Delaware, and Rep. Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware, the Health System Protection Act is aimed at preventing closures similar to the one at Crozer Health, where Prospect Medical Holdings laid off more than 3,000 workers and eliminated critical services, leaving Delaware County without vital health care access.  

“Private equity is a cancer in our health system that is destroying our hospitals and driving up the prices of health services for all Pennsylvanians, all while giving us worse service,” said Kearney. “It’s time that we have tools to prevent private equity from abusing our healthcare system.  

“With the governor’s support, I’m confident the legislature will move forward on meaningful reforms,” added Kearney.  

The Health System Protection Act is designed to achieve the following:  

• Ban sale-leaseback schemes that siphon resources from hospitals and inflate long-term costs.  

• Give the Office of the Attorney General authority to review and block health care acquisitions that put communities at risk.  

• Protect hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities from predatory business practices that put profits over patients.  

“This is a pivotal moment for us as lawmakers elected by the people to represent their interest,” said Borowski. “How we choose to respond to the crisis private equity firms are inflicting in our healthcare system will speak volumes to Pennsylvanians about our courage to do what is right.  

“I’m grateful to Governor Shapiro for speaking up and leading the charge…This is our moment to show Pennsylvanians we won’t relent until we’ve done everything it takes to protect their access to health care,” added Borowski.  

Health care workers, community members, local leaders, and elected officials have weighed in on the Health System Protection Act and Shapiro’s plan to hold private equity accountable and protect Pennsylvanians’ access to health care.  

Rep. Leanne Krueger, D-Delaware, said hospital closings don’t happen overnight.  

“My colleagues and I have been here on the front lines with these nurses and doctors and paramedics for years fighting Prospect,” said Krueger. “Prospect has been divesting in our health care system for years while pulling out every bit of profit they could.  

“Rep. Borowski’s bill, which we did pass out of the House last session, is slated for a vote the first week of June when we go back to the Capitol. And this time, we will pass it through the House, our colleagues will pass it through the Senate, our governor will sign it into law so that what happened here in Delaware County will never happen in Pennsylvania again.”  

Dr. Max Cooper, who worked in Crozer’s Emergency Room, said Pennsylvania “must prevent the next Crozer, and we must not let private equity raid Pennsylvania’s hospitals.”