Tenet to Shut 153-Year-Old Phila. Hospital
Thu, Dec. 18, 2003

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - The 153-year-old Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first medical college for women, will close next spring, its owner said Thursday.

Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s announcement came the day nurses voted to end a five-week-long strike. The hospital employs more than 1,000 people and has 379 beds, but the number of patients had fallen to about 70 during the walkout.

Phillip S. Schaengold, vice president of operations of Tenet Pennsylvania, said the decision to close the hospital March 31 followed five years of efforts to revive the hospital after years of decline. State budget constraints and the high cost of medical malpractice insurance entered into the decision, he said.

The hospital, which Tenet bought in 1998, provides general and psychiatric services and is also used by Drexel University to teach medical students.

It began in 1850 as the nation's first medical college for women, and started admitting men in 1970. The medical school was later merged with Hahnemann University, creating the Drexel University College of Medicine, which will continue to operate.

Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Tenet owns 102 acute care hospitals and many related health care services in 15 states.