Dispute over Tenet hospital ends with new owner

Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell have brokered a deal under which the Philadelphia-based Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital, slated to close July 30, will be sold for $1 to a not-for-profit corporation created by the state. Tenet will transfer non-real estate assets, including most hospital equipment, to a new not-for-profit hospital organization, East Falls Hospital System, formed by cardiologist Nancy Pickering. Pickering spearheaded the Association to Save MCP Hospital. East Falls will affiliate with Drexel University College of Medicine. All residents now attached to MCP will transfer to Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, and continue in Drexel residency programs. Unable to revive MCP after five years of effort, Tenet had planned to close the facility in March but agreed twice to extend its deadline. Three groups submitted proposals to continue operations at the site: Temple University Health System, Drexel and the Association to Save MCP Hospital. -- by Cinda Becker