Avalon, Calif.-based Catalina Island Health received $3 million in one-time funding to help keep its doors open.
Catalina Island Health is the island’s only source of emergency medical care for residents, workers and more than 1 million annual visitors, according to an April 8 news release from Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office.
The hospital faces serious financial challenges with insolvency predicted as early as July, according to the release.
Catalina Island Health’s emergency room treats an average of 770 trauma patients each year with about 50 trauma patients requiring aerial transport to the mainland, according to the release. A closure would lead to more helicopter evacuations of trauma patients and cost Los Angeles County an estimated $14 million annually. It would also lead to delays in treatment and could risk additional injury, harm and death to patients.
The funds, approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, come from a special tax voters passed in 2002 for the sole purpose of funding the countywide system of trauma centers, emergency medical services and bioterrorism response.
The board’s approval also included an amendment directing the county’s Department of Health Services to work with Catalina Island Health and, within 90 days, report on the emergency room’s operations, detailing spending, staffing, services, and equipment. DHS will also assist the hospital with billing, reimbursement, and other administrative needs.
L.A. Care Health Plan gave the hospital a $2 million grant in April 2024 to help it stay afloat. Although the hospital is isolated, it is considered an urban facility because it is part of Los Angeles County, making it ineligible for some state funding offered to rural facilities.
