Upper Darby School District has bought the former Delaware County Memorial Hospital campus, a spokesperson for the school district said.
The district closed on the $600,000 purchase on Aug. 13, the spokesperson said in a statement.
“This acquisition provides a strategic opportunity to meet the District’s current and future space needs,” the statement says. The district plans to “stabilize the site for potential use as swing space to support elementary school renovations” in the short term.
In the long term, the district wants to use the site as an extension of the high school focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and math programming.
“This work will likely begin several years from now and be planned in a way that minimizes impact on taxpayers — making this a once-in-a-generation opportunity to benefit our community for decades to come,” the statement continues. “With the property now under district ownership, we are in the process of finalizing remaining details.”
Delaware County Memorial Hospital, which was part of the Crozer Health network, closed in 2022. Delaware County officials said at the time that Prospect Medical Holdings, Crozer Health’s parent company, was not adequately staffing the hospital.
Prospect Medical Holdings filed for bankruptcy in January and previously asked a court to allow it to “abandon” the Delaware County Memorial and Taylor hospital sites.
A CBS News Philadelphia review of tax records revealed nearly $20 million in delinquent taxes on those properties in Upper Darby and Ridley Park. It’s unclear whether the school district will inherit any of the hospital’s tax debt.
The final two remaining Crozer hospitals, Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Chester and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, closed in the spring.
Upper Darby is one of the largest school districts in the state with more than 12,500 students, according to its website.