Long Beach Community Hospital Likely to Open in Next Two Days
The Community Hospital of Long Beach will likely reopen tomorrow or Wednesday, pending an inspection by the state health department, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports. Last year, former owner Catholic Healthcare West announced it was closing the hospital because its finances "had become too great a burden for the company to continue running [it]" (Gewirtz, Long Beach Press-Telegram, 6/25). But the facility, which is officially owned by the city of Long Beach, has been "rescued" by a coalition of local doctors and residents and a number of volunteers (California Healthline, 6/21). Last week, the group received a $10 million line of credit, putting it "over the top" in its efforts to raise $17 million to reopen the hospital. As of last Thursday, the hospital had received its laboratory and pharmacy licenses and passed several state safety inspections. But the hospital must submit "a few pieces of paperwork" to the health department to gain final approval. When it reopens, the hospital will offer intensive care, coronary care and cancer units and 30 beds for elective surgeries. The emergency department will not open for another week to 10 days, but Dennis Parmer, director of emergency services, said that the staff of the ED will be "comparable" to the size of the staff in the department before the hospital closed (Long Beach Press-Telegram, 6/25).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.