Tower Health’s Board of Directors announced on Tuesday that Jennersville Hospital in Penn Township will be closing in 2022.

Tower Health issued a statement saying, “After months of thoughtful exploration and analysis, the Tower Health Board of Directors today announced a series of actions that will reshape the health system and establish a clear path forward for decades to come.”

One of those actions is “beginning an orderly process to close Jennersville Hospital, effective January 1, 2022. During this period, the hospital and emergency department will remain open and continue to care for patients and the community. Tower Health is fully committed to placing as many impacted employees and physicians as it can into other positions within Tower Health for which they are qualified, or through priority consideration for open positions at Penn Medicine, with which we recently announced plans to develop a strategic alliance, and which offers a variety of services in the Chester County region.”

The press release further stated that Tower Health will continue to operate St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, a vital healthcare resource for some of the region’s most vulnerable populations, while working with local and state agencies and organizations to help secure its long-term future. In addition, Tower Health is continuing to evaluate options to determine and define the future of Brandywine Hospital in a way that best meets community needs.

Tower Health acquired Jennersville Hospital and Brandywine Hospital in Chester County, as well as three other hospitals, from Tennessee-based Community Health Systems in 2017. 

“These decisions were made after an intensive process by which Tower’s Board sought to balance long-term sustainability and impact upon our team and the communities we serve. Opportunities for our employees to work at other Tower Health facilities or at Penn Medicine were important to the Board and leadership,” said Tom Work, chair of Tower Health’s Board of Directors.

A community hospital has operated in Penn Township since 1959. That’s when the West Grove Community Hospital moved to the current location on Baltimore Pike. The hospital operated under that name until it was renamed the Southern Chester County Medical Center, a name it kept for decades until the hospital was acquired by a larger health system.