LONG BEACH: City Taking Bids for Community Medical Center
Applications to take over ownership of Long Beach Community Medical Center are due Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. To date, 10 groups have expressed interest in purchasing or leasing the hospital, including Nashville-based Vanguard Health Systems. Long Beach city officials took over the property after Catholic Healthcare West, the facility's owner, announced in June that it would close the facility Oct. 2. Save Our Neighborhood Hospital, a local coalition of physicians and east Long Beach residents, struggled to keep the hospital's license valid after CHW announced it would shut down the financially ailing facility. Although the coalition hoped to take control of the hospital itself, city officials decided to hold a "wide-open competition" for a new owner. Officials are collecting proposals that will preserve most of the hospital's basic functions, such as emergency and operating room maintenance, and do not require public funding. City officials indicated that solid financing packages are required for proposal consideration, as independent experts estimate a $20 million to $30 million price tag for basic renovations, with another $20.3 million needed for seismic retrofitting. Officials expect that the new owner will scale down the 261-bed facility, possibly reducing its size by half. A new owner could be selected as early as Sept. 27 (Mathews, 9/11).
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