Hahnemann Hospital Owner Joel Freedman Offers Shuttered Medical Center at a Fraction of Market Cost to Provide Assistance to Philadelphia in Event of Coronavirus Patient Surge

PHILADELPHIA, March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The owner of shuttered Hahnemann University Hospital has offered to lease the medical facility to the City of Philadelphia at substantially below market cost so it can be used by the City in the event that a surge of COVID-19 pandemic cases occur.

"We are working with the City of Philadelphia to provide a major quarantine center to cope with community members affected by the COVID-19 virus," said Joel Freedman, who purchased the now closed hospital and owns it through his company Broad Street Healthcare Properties. "We will continue to work with the City in an attempt to find a reasonable solution."

Broad Street Healthcare Properties officials expressed concerns over the City's statement today that it was asking too much for the medical facility buildings. Company officials said it has made an offer far below market costs for the City to use the medical buildings for the next six months, or longer if the City needed it.

Broad Street has offered the buildings previously licensed for an acute care 496-bed hospital at a daily rental per bed amount of approximately $27 plus operating costs, far below the comparable situation in downtown Los Angeles where shuttered St. Vincent Hospital is being rented at $233 per day per bed plus operating costs by the State of California for COVID-19 patients.   

"Our team immediately responded to the City's interest in the Hahnemann and has been engaged in discussions with them for several days. Further, we have continually asked the City to make us an offer for the facility. We asked the City whether they desired to buy or lease the hospital, and after days of waiting for a reply, we took the initiative and submitted a term sheet. We offered to lease the facility to the city for six months or a year, whatever they think is necessary. We need the City to work with us for everyone to be successful," said Freedman. "I believe everyone has the right purpose at heart. The ball is in the City's court to tell us what it needs and is willing to do."

Before its closing, the hospital saw about 150 emergency department patients daily. The use of the building faces many complications, such as the absence of beds and other equipment and utilities that serve buildings, as well as the absence of medical care teams to take care of patients.

Contact: Sam Singer
Email: [email protected] 
Phone: 415.336.4949
For Broad Street Healthcare Properties

SOURCE Joel Freedman