Citing years of financial turmoil at Crozer Health, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry has petitioned Delaware County Common Pleas Court asking that the health system be placed under state receivership, writes Harold Brubaker and Sarah Gantz for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The unprecedented move came after Crozer Health’s owner, Prospect Medical Holdings Inc, notified state officials they intend to close the trauma, maternity and burn unit at Crozer Chester Medical Center after Nov. 20, a move that would not allow the hospital to survive, according to the court complaint.

The lawsuit means to hold Prospect and other financial stakeholders accountable “for years of mismanagement, corporate looting, and neglect of the hospital system,” Henry said Tuesday.

“Corporate greed has severely harmed Delaware County’s largest health-care provider, its patients, its staff, and the community,” she said.

Under Crozer Health’s for-profit ownership, two of its four hospitals have closed and there have been numerous layoffs.

A Prospect representative called the lawsuit “hasty, ill-considered, and completely unnecessary.”

Under receivership, Henry would appoint a management firm, FTI Consulting, to run Crozer’s facilities, with authority to put Crozer into bankruptcy. The long-term goal would be to return Crozer to nonprofit ownership.

Read more about the lawsuit, the receivership and Crozer Health’s financial problems in The Philadelphia Inquirer.