Gary Hopkins, spokesperson for the for-profit hospital chain, said the three Pacific Health hospitals that will close are 142-bed Bellflower (Calif.) Medical Center, 212-bed Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center and its Hawthorne campus and 177-bed Newport Specialty Hospital in Tustin, Calif. Emergency departments at all three hospitals are suspended, effective today, but official closure dates were not released. Last week, Pacific Health announced it was shutting down the 142-bed Anaheim General Hospital.
The hospital closures culminate a tumultuous year for Pacific Health. In March, the California Department of Industrial Relations fined the company more than $7 million for failing to pay employee wages and forcing employees to wait for payments at all four hospitals. In August, the hospital chain agreed to pay $16.5 million to resolve allegations it paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for patients recruited among homeless populations and consequently provided allegedly unnecessary care to those patients.
It’s estimated up to 1,900 full- and part-time employees will be laid off as a result of the closures, according to a Los Angeles Times report. The four hospitals could reopen in the future by Pacific Health or a new operator.
More Articles on Hospital Closures:
Anaheim General Hospital in California to Shutter in May
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