BAKERSFIELD: Bakersfield Memorial-Mercy Lawsuit Settled

      A lawsuit filed against Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and Mercy Healthcare Bakersfield in protest of their 1996 affiliation was settled Thursday. The settlement calls for the creation of a $150,000 nonprofit corporation "for health care needs in the community." The five plaintiffs, among them two physicians, had originally criticized the affiliation as "mishandled" and "illegal," and called it a "giveaway of a $98 million community hospital to a health care giant," but now maintain they are satisfied with the settlement. The defendants "have maintained that the affiliation was handled properly and that Bakersfield Memorial did not lose its assets because it remains a separate entity." A separate lawsuit filed by Dr. John Byfield in protest of the Memorial/Mercy affiliation is still pending (Terwilleger, Bakersfield Californian, 7/15).