Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Profiteering in Philly

Joel Freedman — the wealthy, Los Angeles-based real estate investor who has kept a large hospital closed even as cases in the city rise. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney have been stressing that Philly will need all the hospital beds it can get in the weeks ahead, but Hahnemann Hospital (which had almost 500 beds) remains closed because Freedman is asking much more for the property than the city can afford. After purchasing Hahnemann in 2018, Freedman closed it down in September 2019.

Philadelphia Managing Director Brian Abernathy has stressed that Freedman views the Hahnemann property as a money-making opportunity while city officials are looking at it from the standpoint of a major health crisis. 

City Councilwoman Helen Gym, has been arguing that the city should seize the Hahnemann building through eminent domain.

“We cannot allow unconscionable greed to get in the way of saving lives,” Gym tweeted. And Sanders wholeheartedly agrees, posting, “It is outrageous that a Philadelphia real estate investor who closed a hospital is now trying to gouge the city to re-open it."

https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/the-wealthy-real-estate-investor-keeping-a-philadelphia-hospital-closed-during-pandemic-stands-to-receive-huge-tax-savings-from-coronavirus-stimulus/

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