Riverside-Based Parkview Community Hospital Reopens Emergency Room After Two-Month Closure
The emergency room at Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside yesterday reopened after the hospital voluntarily closed the unit in May, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports (Wells Miller, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 7/23). The hospital filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March after state and federal investigators temporarily dropped the facility from Medicare and Medi-Cal, which covered about 70% of Parkview's patients, over concerns about patient health and safety. Parkview also received a preliminary denial of accreditation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (California Healthline, 3/27). Although Parkview "quickly regained" contracts with Medicare and Medi-Cal, "it took nearly two months to resolve all the federal inspectors' concerns," the Press-Enterprise reports. On May 21, Parkview officials decided to close its ER and reopen the unit "when the hospital's financial situation stabilized." In the past two months, Parkview cleaned and painted the ER, installed partitions to separate a nursing station and established a "fast-track" room for patients "who are less ill and do not require the full services" of the ER. Dr. Chad Clark, associate director of the Parkview ER, said that area residents "cannot do without this emergency room" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 7/23).
In related news, Parkview interim Administrator Art Gage resigned last Friday after less than two months in the position, the Press-Enterprise reports. Gage, a businessman with "no experience running hospitals," said that he had "accomplished what he set out to do and needed to return to his executive recruiting business." He added, "If the emergency room hadn't opened, I would still be there." Mary Ann Bush, Parkview's chief clinical officer, will serve as acting administrator at the hospital (Beeman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 7/23).
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