HOSPITAL NOTES: Kaiser To Build New Facility; South Bay Ends ER Services
Kaiser Permanente has "decided to build a new hospital on the current site of its giant medical center on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles," the Los Angeles Times reports. Kaiser announced in 1996 that it would close the facility, which "needs a major renovation to meet new earthquake safety standards," and transfer patients to St. Vincent Medical Center. But Kaiser changed its mind when membership in the area "exceeded estimates." The HMO did not release a timetable or a budget for the construction nor any details on the new facility (Olmos, 5/9).
Going, Going, Gone
As of yesterday, emergency services were discontinued at South Bay Medical Center "as part of a plan to lease the hospital to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, which plans to convert it into an outpatient care facility." Residents of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach will be provided emergency and primary care services by the Beach Cities Ambulatory Care Center, which will open June 1. The Los Angeles Times reports that Tenet Healthcare Corp., which operated the facility, "announced earlier this year that it was leaving June 1, even though its lease is not up until 2014." The board that manages the center, the Beach Cities Health District, "opted to close the hospital and turn it over to a proven provider in the area" (5/9).