Philadelphia hospital to stay closed after owner requests nearly $1 million a month

A hospital with room for nearly 500 beds has been closed for months in the center of Philadelphia, a city bracing for the spread of the coronavirus and a crush of sick patients.

But the facility will remain empty, city officials said, because they cannot accept the owner’s offer: buy the hospital or lease it for almost $1 million a month, including utilities and other costs.

“We don’t have the need to own it nor the resources to buy it. So we are done and we are moving on,” Mayor Jim Kenney told reporters on Thursday during the city’s daily briefing.

The next day, he said that Temple University would let the city use a music and sports venue for free.

The city would no longer pursue the closed facility, Hahnemann University Hospital.

At: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/us/coronavirus-philadelphia-hahnemann-hospital.html

Hahnemann University Hospital.

The closed facility could hold 500 patients - but the owner's rent demands are unaffordable for the city.