Parkview Community Hospital Files for Federal Bankruptcy Protection

Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week in the wake of state and federal investigations that temporarily dropped the facility from Medicare and Medi-Cal after finding that the health and safety of its patients were in "immediate jeopardy," the Los Angeles Times reports. The loss of the government programs, which covered almost 70% of Parkview's patients, and a preliminary denial of accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, led the hospital to close its emergency, cancer and pediatric units and to lose about $4 million in the week after investigators announced their findings, Parkview spokesperson David Jarrard said. The facility has lost more than $30 million since 1995, the Times reports (Dirmann, Los Angeles Times, 3/27). Yesterday, a U.S. bankruptcy court tentatively approved a $7 million financing agreement between the hospital and Sun Capital, a Florida company that lends money to businesses with "troubled credit histories" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/27). The money will help pay hospital expenses over the next year as the bankruptcy court monitors Parkview's reorganization efforts, which could include handing control of its emergency room over to Riverside County. Jarrard said, "We look at this as a positive move. It gives us time to recover from the damage that has been done to our hospital in recent weeks" (Los Angeles Times, 3/27).