Positive news about the future of a medical facility in Jennersville was announced last week, with word that Chester County has awarded a grant for capital improvement to ChristianaCare for its West Grove campus.

The announcement last week highlights the award of $2.5 million in American Rescue Fund Plan Act (ARPA) funds as a grant from the Chester County Government toward capital improvement projects at the former hospital for information technology, medical equipment, and facility renovation.

As regular visitors to this website know, the sudden closing of the former Jennersville Hospital in January had a significant impact on the greater southern Chester County community and put a real impact on the operations of emergency medical services, especially for the West Grove Fire Company. Without a local emergency room and hospital facility, WGFC ambulances, along with those at neighboring fire companies and area paramedics from SCCEMS Medic 94, must transport patients to much more distant hospitals in West Chester, Elkton, Lancaster, and into Delaware. Those impacts continue today, dramatically driving up patient transport times, ambulance volumes, EMS vehicle wear and tear, operational expenses, and places stresses on the emergency care system with crews out of district so much longer.

In June, the community received good news, with the purchase of the former hospital by ChristianaCare. Since then, ChristianaCare has been getting input the community, area elected officials and emergency services leaders. Meanwhile, they have also been evaluating the former hospital facilities. In its announcement about the grant, ChristianaCare revealed that the facility currently has no information technology infrastructure or lab equipment.

Important Timing Update

As part of its announcement, ChristianaCare said that due to required facility upgrades and plan development, it is unlikely that any services will open within the next year. ChristianaCare did reaffirm its commitment to establishing the West Grove campus with a phased approach, with the first phase to re-establish emergency services.

Continued Impact on Emergency Services

The West Grove Fire Company and area EMS organizations continues to feel the impacts of the Jennersville Hospital closing. Those impacts continue unchanged and will impact emergency services teams throughout the next year as ChristianaCare renovates the facility and ultimately opens emergency services again in our area. The fire company continues to regularly brief area municipal officials on these how its operations, personnel, and budget have and continue to be impacted. The support of county and local officials and the greater community is appreciated by the WGFC.

For more information on ChristianaCare’s announcement, see: https://news.christianacare.org/2022/11/west-grove-campus-awarded-2-5m-grant-from-chester-county-for-capital-improvement/

For more information on the Chester County ARPA grants, see: https://www.chesco.org/5108/ARPA and https://www.chesco.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1384

For more information on the impact of the hospital closing on the WGFC, see: https://www.wgfc.org/news/1111/Updated--Hospital-Closed----WGFC-Operations-and-Plans-in-Motion- and https://www.wgfc.org/news/1142/WGFC-Leaders-Testify-at-House-Hearing-on-EMS-Crisis-in-Pennsylvania