Riverside County Considers Plan to Take Over Parkview Hospital Emergency Room
Riverside County may take over and operate the emergency room at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside, an "unprecedented" move in the state, the Riverside Press Enterprise reports (Beeman, Riverside Press Enterprise, 3/20). Parkview closed the emergency room after state and federal officials dropped the hospital from Medicare and Medi-Cal earlier this month over problems related to nursing and pharmacy services, quality assurance and medical staffing that endangered the health of patients. Although officials last week restored Parkview's funding for Medicare and Medicaid, which provide health insurance for 66% of the hospital's patients, Parkview's emergency room has not reopened (California Healthline, 3/18). In addition, Parkview has filled only about 10% of the hospital's 193 beds. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is considering a plan to lease Parkview's emergency room space and equipment and operate the facility under the license of Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley, Donna Matney, administrator of the medical center, said. On Tuesday, the board ordered an audit of Parkview to assess the hospital's "recovery plan" and to "advise the county on how it should address the health needs" of area residents. According to Supervisor John Tavaglione, "There's no intent here to bail out Parkview. We have a huge void without an emergency room" at the hospital. The board plans to meet today to discuss the issue (Riverside Press Enterprise, 3/20).
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