Judge orders sale to resume of Jennersville, Brandywine hospitals

WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A judge in Chester County, Pennsylvania has ordered Tower Health to restart the process of selling two recently shuttered hospitals.

The order by Court of Common Pleas Judge Edward Griffith on Monday called for Jennersville and Brandywine hospitals to be sold to Canyon Atlantic Partners LLC.

The ruling does not necessarily mean the two hospitals will reopen, but it does keep that hope alive.

The companies had struck a deal in November only to have it break down in December. Tower Health then canceled the sale of the hospitals.

At the time, Tower Health said Canyon Atlantic did not meet its regulatory and financial obligations to complete the transaction.

RELATED: Residents concerned over two hospital closures in Chester County, Pa.

Tower Health says Brandywine Hospital has to close because a sale to a Texas company fell through.

After the agreement fell through, Tower Health closed Jennersville Hospital in December and Brandywine Hospital in January.

Residents and community leaders have since expressed concerns about overburdening other Chester County hospitals and increasing emergency room and EMS wait times.

"I hope Jennersville reopens," said Michael Pinkerton of West Chester. "I'm homeless. So I stayed at Penn Medicine last night up here at Chester County, and they treated me with the utmost respect."

Pinkerton continued, "That explains why there's so much wait time up here at Penn Medicine up here- yeah it's impacted big time. With them two being closed, now everybody's coming here to these little hospitals."

Now, the judge ruled that Tower Health must hold to the sales agreement.

The Chester County Medical Society, which supported Texas-based Canyon Atlantic in this case, will hold a virtual press conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss the ruling.

Their hope is to get the hospitals back up and running. However, reopening hospitals is not an easy task and it is also expensive.

In a statement, a representative from Tower Health said, "We are reviewing the judge's ruling and will not have any additional comment until that process is complete."