Former hospital executive Yorai “Benny” Benzeevi, MD, surrendered his medical license effective May 7 following his conviction in a corruption case tied to Tulare (Calif.) Regional Medical Center, according to the state medical board.
According to a Medical Board of California order, Dr. Benzeevi surrendered his physician and surgeon certificate as a form of professional discipline and would have to petition for reinstatement and pay investigation and enforcement costs if he seeks a license in the future. The order also states he lost all rights and privileges as a physician in California effective May 7 and must surrender his pocket license and wall certificate.
Dr. Benzeevi previously led Healthcare Conglomerate Associates, the private company that managed Tulare Regional Medical Center and Lone Pine, Calif.-based Southern Inyo Hospital. Dr. Benzeevi pleaded no contest in 2024 to six felony counts of conflict of interest and two misdemeanor counts tied to campaign finance reporting failures and using an official position for personal gain. He was sentenced to $2.4 million in restitution tied to losses involving the Tulare Local Healthcare District and Southern Inyo Healthcare District.
Tulare Regional filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2017. The Tulare Local Healthcare District later entered a management agreement with Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health, which now operates the hospital as Adventist Health Tulare under its license.
Randy Dodd, CEO of the Tulare Local Healthcare District, which owns the hospital, told Becker’s the medical board order “doesn’t change the past” but does represent “some level of accountability” for what transpired under Dr. Benzeevi’s leadership.
“It’s a period of time that we want to get past,” Mr. Dodd said. “As the district, we’ve gone through all the various litigation and court cases and everything else that happened with the bad actors who were here during that time. For us, and hopefully for the community, it’s time to put that behind us and look forward to the future.”
That future includes completing portions of the hospital tower project on the Tulare campus. The Tulare Local Healthcare District said it hopes to complete the first and second floors of the tower by 2028.
Attorneys for Dr. Benzeevi were not immediately available for comment, according to the Visalia Times-Delta. Becker’s has reached out to Adventist Health and will update this story if more information becomes available.
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