Congressman Dwight Evans (D-PA-3rd) issued the following statement on the proposed merger of Jefferson Health and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia and the region:
“I’m very pleased that the hospitals and the state attorney general’s office were able to reach a settlement. I publicly advocated for letting the merger proceed because this is vital for keeping our safety-net hospitals open, and now the way is more clear for these hospitals to provide enhanced stability and access to high-quality care for the residents of North Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. I hope the Federal Trade Commission will drop its opposition as well.
“Issues of rising health costs should be addressed through Congress and the state legislatures rather than the courts, as should solutions to maintain the viability of safety-net hospitals. As a member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, I have been leading an ongoing, bipartisan ‘No More Hahnemanns!’ effort to seek these types of solutions. Hahnemann University Hospital’s 2019 closing was the 10th hospital closing in Philadelphia in 20 years, and this problem has affected large cities as well as small towns and rural areas of Pennsylvania. I especially wanted to avoid another closing during this deadly, lengthy pandemic.”
Evans represents Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Northwest and West Philadelphia and parts of North, South, Southwest and Center City Philadelphia. He serves on the influential House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees Medicare and much of the U.S. health-care system.
Original source can be found here.
