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Nurses and other staff at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital are accusing health system owners of divesting services from communities and leaving children and families in North Philly with fewer health care options due to planned pediatric closures.
Jefferson Health, which acquired the former Einstein Healthcare Network in 2021, confirmed it will shutter four longstanding pediatric practices by the end of June, including the Pediatric and Adolescent Ambulatory Center at the hospital in the Fern Rock neighborhood.
Other closing offices include Einstein Physicians Holland Pediatrics’ Buck Road, Frankford and Bustleton locations.
The closures are scheduled for June 30.
“It just leaves such a hole in this community,” said Carla Lecoin, a registered nurse who cares for mothers and babies, outside the hospital Thursday. “[Jefferson] forgot that when they took on the building, they took on us, they took on families in the community as well.”
Lecoin is a member of Einstein Nurses United, which is affiliated with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Health Professionals, also known as PASNAP. The union represents about 1,200 nurses at the hospital and has been in negotiations for a new contract with the health system’s leadership since February.
Carla Lecoin, a registered nurse who works with mothers and babies at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, joins a rally of local lawmakers, community leaders and other union health care workers of Einstein Nurses United, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Nicole Leonard/WHYY)
The union does not include staff at the outpatient pediatric practices, but hospital nurses say they’ve often directed families to these centers for ongoing care after birth.
Having in-network pediatric practices throughout North Philly provided an easy continuum of care for mothers and babies coming out of the hospital, especially in the neonatal intensive care unit, said registered nurse Samuel Carchidi.
“And it is important for our NICU patients who have a lot of medical needs even after they’re discharged to have that continuity, so that way their care that they’re receiving is as accurate and thorough as it needs to be,” he said.
But Carchidi now worries for those families.
“Once they leave the hospital doors, Jefferson no longer seems to care about them,” he said. “And I feel like closing down all the resources for them shows that.”
Samuel Carchidi, a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, joins other union health care workers of Einstein Nurses United in a small rally in North Philly on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Nicole Leonard/WHYY)
Union members are also calling on the health system to approve smaller nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, higher salaries and more affordable health care benefits, and safer working environments.
A Jefferson Health spokesperson said in a statement that the health system has bargained with union representatives in good faith and has “put forward proposals that are fair, competitive, and responsible.”
“It’s disappointing to see the PASNAP resort to misinformation and disinformation to the detriment of our nurses and the broader community,” officials said. “We remain committed to reaching an agreement that is equitable for both our nurses and our mission-driven organization.”