Banking
Jul. 19, 2002
Hospital Will Stay Open Despite Court Order
LOS ANGELES - Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital will remain open for now, despite a court ruling denying a temporary restraining order to the state attorney general, who had tried to block the closure.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. said it would keep the 166-bed hospital, which had been slated for shuttering Monday, open until Aug. 26 if it can keep enough physicians and nurses on board to run it.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer had filed suit, claiming that Tenet has broken several conditions in a consent agreement approved when the health care company purchased the hospital. People v. Tenet Healthsystem DFH Inc. BC277716 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 16, 2002). Among the promises were that the Santa Barbara-based health care company would consult with the public, county and hospital's governing board on any closure and that it would give the state Department of Health Services 90 days' notice of its plan to close the emergency room, Lockyer contends.
David Langness, a spokesman for Tenet, denied Lockyer's claims.
"We have complied with the attorney general's agreement," Langness said. "We have consulted with the public. We certainly have consulted with the hospital board on many occasions and have minutes from those meetings."
Langness also said Tenet was meeting with the county Wedensday night.
In December, Tenet purchased Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood and Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet.
According to the lawsuit, Tenet announced May 29 that it was going to close the Marina hospital and immediately stop admitting new nonemergency patients. Tenet also said it would close the emergency room Aug. 26.
On June 18, it announced the emergency unit instead would close July 22. The hospital's psychiatric and rehabilitation units also closed.
Langness said the hospital is closing for a variety of reasons, including that it "does not support itself financially."
"It has seismic and [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliance issues," Langness said. "Primarily, it's closing because it's not used much by the community."
He claims the emergency room serves a fraction of the patients received by seven other hospitals in the area. Many of the staff are leaving because of the hospital's planned closure, but Tenet is offering bonuses and incentives to those who stay until Aug. 26, Langness added.
The temporary restraining order was denied by writs Judge Dzintra Janavs. The two sides return to Janavs' courtroom on Aug. 13 for a hearing on a preliminary injunction against the hospital closure.
Leslie Simmons
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