LOS MEDANOS: Bankruptcy Settlement Expected To Be Approved Today

      Paving the way for the reopening of the shuttered Los Medanos Community Hospital as an urgent care center, a U.S. bankruptcy judge is expected today to approve a settlement between the bankrupt hospital and its creditors. Don Morey, staff counsel for Cal-Mortgage, which "guaranteed the hospital's bond debt," said, "We've been able to resolve our differences ... with the Los Medanos Community Hospital District." The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "[w]hen the hospital closed and filed for bankruptcy in 1994, Pittsburg residents were shocked, even though they had heard for years of alleged fiscal mismanagement, bad investments and mounting debt." The Los Medanos Community Hospital District will pay off the debt by selling some land and medical equipment and by leasing the hospital to the county so it can reopen a portion as an urgent care center. Al Price, chair of the hospital's board of directors, said, "Now we can get on with our lives, doing what other hospital districts do -- providing health care and education to our community" (Heredia, 10/8). Click here to read more about this issue.