Crozer Health Fails to Retain ACGME Accreditation for General Surgery Residency Program

Crozer Health’s general surgery residency program has been permanently lost after its final bid to keep it was unsuccessful. The Delaware County health system announced on Wednesday that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education had withdrawn the program’s accreditation in January under special circumstances, without specifying what those circumstances were. The program, which originally had 15 slots, was left with only three residents by the end of the appeals process.

Crozer’s CEO, Tony Esposito, expressed strong disagreement with the ACGME’s decision and stated that the health system had worked to secure training sites for the remaining residents. The ACGME’s rules and procedures cite two possible reasons for the withdrawal of accreditation: a catastrophic loss of resources or facilities, or egregious noncompliance with requirements.

The investigation into the Crozer program was triggered by an anonymous complaint alleging that surgical volumes were insufficient for the residents’ training needs. Despite losing its general surgery program, Crozer still maintains residency programs in emergency medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and a transitional year program required for certain specialties.

Esposito reassured the public that Crozer is actively recruiting clinicians to ensure the continuation of safe, quality care for patients and does not anticipate any interruptions to its services as a result of losing the accreditation for the general surgery program.