The Palo Verde Healthcare Clinic in Blythe, Calif., is closed temporarily as the hospital works to recruit a healthcare provider.
Patients with appointments scheduled this week are being contacted directly, with additional guidance to follow by mail, according to an Aug. 5 news release from the hospital. Patients are being referred to local providers during the closure.
The hospital’s emergency department remains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and lab and radiology services remain available, according to the release. The hospital said it aims to resume clinic operations as soon as it hires a provider.
The clinic closure comes amid an ongoing county-led turnaround at the hospital, which the Palo Verde Healthcare District placed in Chapter 9 bankruptcy in September. The district’s board approved a 180-day management services agreement in February under which the Riverside University Health System took over interim operations of the hospital’s emergency department and clinic.
The district board approved a three-month extension of that agreement July 29, running through Nov. 21, according to an Aug. 4 news release from the hospital. Financial support during the agreement period has included a $3.45 million intergovernmental transfer payment from Riverside County that unlocked about $9.9 million in state Voluntary Rate Range Program funding, a $3 million state emergency grant, $1.8 million in federal grant loan forgiveness, a $1 million county loan and $330,000 from the city of Blythe.
