Canyon Atlantic drops lawsuit with Tower Health, ending a renewed bid to acquire Jennersville and Brandywine hospitals

An off-and-on prospective acquisition of the shuttered Jennersville and Brandywine hospitals in Chester County is off again. Canyon Atlantic Partners LLC has decided to drop its litigation with Tower Health, which closed the hospitals in December and January— thus ending Canyon’s renewed bid to purchase the hospitals and dashing the hopes of many that the company would reopen them quickly.

Canyon’s action comes one week after the company failed to post the court-ordered $1 million bond required to revive the deal canceled in early December, further legitimizing Tower’s previous claims casting doubt on the Texas-based hospital management firm’s financial viability.

Canyon’s legal team, consisting of attorneys from Post & Post and Lamb McErlane PC, submitted paperwork to discontinue the civil action Tuesday to the office of the Chester County Prothonotary. It was subsequently signed off on by Chester County Common Pleas Judge Edward Griffith, who had resuscitated the deal in February.

In a statement to WHYY News, a spokesperson for Tower Health expressed a sense of optimism that this opened the door to finding a new buyer.

“Tower Health welcomes the decision by Canyon Atlantic Partners to withdraw its claim with the Chester County Court. We are now able to move forward with exploring partner organizations with the financial and operational ability to complete a transaction,” the statement read.

For those, like the Chester County Medical Society and some local lawmakers, who had hitched their wagons to Canyon’s ability to follow through on the deal, the discontinuation of the lawsuit was not how they envisioned things going.

WHYY News reached out to the county medical society, but did not immediately receive a response.

Just three weeks ago at a virtual press conference, the medical society,  a Canyon attorney, and a local lawmaker presented a united front on a plan for Jennersville and Brandywine hospitals to come under Canyon control within the 90-day timeline granted by Judge Griffith. There was a great deal of hope, optimism, and joy, but very few specifics on how reopening the facilities in West Grove and Coatesville might come about after several months had passed.

State Rep. Dan Williams, who participated in the Feb. 15 press conference, did not immediately respond to a WHYY News request for an interview.