Competing Bids Expected as Philly Healthcare Giants Eye Children's Hospital Auction

Several major players in the market are lining up for possible bids this week on one of the city's two children's hospitals.

St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia goes on the auction block this week, as a result of the same financial woes that led to the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital—and it's expected to attract competing bids.

Several major healthcare organizations are expected to back two different offers for the 188-bed facility, one of two children's hospitals in the city, as Harold Brubaker reported for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jefferson Health expressed interest earlier this summer in buying St. Christopher's in collaboration with three other academic entities: Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Temple University Health System.

"This remarkable consortium is a bright light in an otherwise dark moment in Philadelphia healthcare that would bring together four key nonprofits to safeguard children in our community," Jefferson Health CEO Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, said in a statement at the time.

Jefferson's bid, however, is expected to be challenged by a joint bid from Tower Health and Drexel University, with backing from the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Independence Health Group, as the Inquirer reported.

Details of their expected bids have not been disclosed. The auction is scheduled to take place Wednesday.

Related: Hundreds of Trainees in Limbo as Philadelphia Hospital Closes